Blazblue: A Delightful Sensation
by SoulsVeteran
Summary: Mai had met a mysterious man down on the lowest level of Torifune, not that same guy has enrolled in the Academy. She and her friends have taken a liking to him and now Ragna and Mai are going to be seeing each other quite often. Ragna, who was forced into school, now finds that maybe school isn't so bad. Ragna X Mai
1. Chapter 1

**BlazBlue: A delightful sensation**

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 **Here is my awful attempt at a pairing that barely anyone has done. Now I can see it is for a good reason. It was difficult to capture Ragna's personality as a adolescent given that before he was the Grim Reaper, he was a bit more of a curious kid and wasn't as gruff.**

 **Summary: Mai has been thinking about the man she met down on the lowest level of Torifune, now that same guy has enrolled in the Academy and is quickly a friend of hers and her friends. How will Ragna and Mai develop if they ever had more interactions?**

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 **Chapter 1: A new student? First guy member.**

The azure canvas containing a sphere of bright candescent rays that fell upon the higher levels of Torifune, the Academy city and its residents. It was a strange sight to those who've never conceived the thought of an entire city being an Academic playground, but here it was, almost everywhere one went, they'd would see people all dressed in blue and white uniform shirts/jackets paired with black lower garbs.

Not to mention the buildings all resembled something you would have expected from an old library building which was constructed somewhere before the early 2000s. On the inside however, they were more luxurious and modern than most of the City's brothers and sisters. It was here that a certain boy-turned-girl, on the seventh level, the student-dormitories, was in her dorm laying on her bed deep in her thoughts.

This girl was considered very cute by her friends and some other people who gave her a once over every now and then. She had a slender, yet curvy and athletic figure; sporting wide, shapely hips, long toned legs, a narrow waist, a very sizable bust. Her blue hair done in a high ponytail with yellow ribbons, came down to her lower back, two hair antennae and two side-locks in her hair, striking magenta eyes and a small, rounded, yet narrow face.

She was currently dressed in the standard Military Academy uniform for girls; a blue and white shirt and jacket, a black skirt accompanied by black thigh-high stocking and white shoes with a yellow outline.

She was thinking back on the time when she and her friends were exploring the ninth level of Torifune, for the Grimoire that supposably had the cure for her 'Super taste'. She had ended up falling to the tenth floor where she had encountered the Adsequi Grimoire, with the soul of the first student who desired to be with her beloved. But, with Mai's super taste and Grimoire power that had turned her into a girl in the first place. She was about to tell the soul possessing the Grimoire that her beloved was right next to her the whole time.

However, what, or rather who was on her mind was that man who had helped down there. The man didn't seem to be that much older than her, but she doubted he was a student, or even a senior student at the Academy, or else everyone would have known who he was due to his skills. Coming from a family with a strong background in martial arts, she was absolutely blown away by the level of skill the white-haired man dressed in red and black possessed. She figured that in a straight up fight, she'd lose in the first second.

Who was he? Is he a student? If so, why doesn't anyone in the Academy know who he is?

These were the types of thoughts that came to her mind as she tried to figure out the identity of the white-haired man. If he had been a student, then the NOL Academy would have been bragging about having produced a once-in-a-life prodigy.

Mai sighed, 'Oh well, no point trying to figure out who he is… for now...' she drew on the last part of her thoughts as her gaze fell upon the lunchbox that Noel made her. She had some eating to catch up on.

 **10:30AM, Armagus Basics Advanced Theory Class.**

Mai and her roommate Kajun, a girl with light-purple hair that she wore with a crown braid and had it combed straight down her back. Along with her other friends, Noel Vermillion, Tsubaki Yayoi and Makoto Nanaya, who was using her big bushy tail to her advantage by using it like it was a cushion to keep herself from overloading during class.

This class was the one most people including herself focused most on, as most people weren't born with a ridiculously high affinity for Ars Magus like Noel, who has the highest affinity in the Academy's history. However, Mai couldn't fault the ones falling asleep, since not even the cool teacher, Miss Estella McKenzie, could save the lesson. Everyone already knew what Armagus was, how it can be used and how to use the basic barrier spell.

Thankfully the first break arrived only a minute later, to every students' joy.

Mai lifted her arms above her head, stretching out her torso, making her chest almost launch a button off her shirt. As she got up, her best friend Kajun came up to her.

"Hey Mai, anything you are planning on doing?" Kajun asked with a smile.

Mai smiled back, "Well, ah… I might just go to Gym room and build up a sweat, hahaha." She told her.

Kajun sighed, "Really? Out of all things you could do, you choose that? You are too boyish for your good, what a shame, a cute girl like you should be doing other things." She told her.

Mai began to sweat, that word 'boyish' hit a little too close to home.

"Um… like what Kajun?" Mai asked. Kajun smirked.

"Like seeing if there are any cool mysteries in the old parts of the Academy buildings, you know, more hidden rooms like the one where we found the Truth Grimoire." Kajun told her.

Mai nodded, "Oh yeah! I forgot Ms McKenzie told us that there were some rooms sealed off during the construction of new rooms. Alright, then, let's find them." She ended with reinvigorated enthusiasm.

Mai and Kajun then marched towards there other three friends.

"Hey girls, what are you three up to?" Kajun asked.

Makoto leaped right up, "Well we're going to the cafeteria on the double! The limited-edition Walnut parfait is going to be ours! Come on ladies! Chop chop!" Makoto told them, about to speed off until Noel reminded her.

"Makoto, it's only morning break, the parfaits are available yet. Hehe!" Noel told her, Makoto's face spelled doom.

"NOOO! Why… how could the world be so cruel as to keep my parfait away from me? To come so far… My life is a tragedy…" Makoto exaggerated.

The girls had a good laugh at their squirrelly friend's antics. Tsubaki also told her.

"And besides, a parfait this early during the day can't be good for you. Why not just get one of those granola bowls instead? Has just as much nuts and it's very sweet." Tsubaki told her.

Makoto's eyes lit up, "Really!? You go Tsubaki! I knew you were one of my friends for a reason!" she said.

They all laughed again, Mai spoke up.

"It's like we're only your friends because of the food we bring." She joked making everyone laugh louder.

Makoto then suggested, "Well hey! Eating with friends makes everything taste even better, come on girls! On we go!"

All the girls agreed, except Tsubaki.

"Oh, you can all go on without me, I have something to do."

Noel whined, "Oh! Really Tsubaki? Are you sure?"

Makoto then said, "Ya know… you study way too much, has anyone ever told you that?"

Tsubaki nodded, "Yes Makoto, you have, but I'm not studying, the student council told me to show the new student around the school and their dorms."

Everyone blinked.

"Huh? We have a new student? At this time of the year? Who is it?" Mai asked.

Tsubaki shook her head, "I don't know, I only know that he was put into the senior level based on his statistics. As for his name, I only heard that his last name is Mr. Mitsuyoshi." She replied.

Kajun looked deep in thought, "A senior as soon as they enrolled? Wow, who ever he is, he must be a very talented individual to have been given his level. I wonder if this Mitsuyoshi is easy on the eyes?"

Makoto grinned, "Yeah! But I hope it's a guy who likes Beastkins, that's a damn rarity these days! You know what I'm sayin'? she commented.

Noel cutely looked down, "I just hope he's a nice person… who also enjoys my cooking as much as you do Mai." She said.

Everyone within hearing radius, turned blue when Noel said that.

No one besides Mai will ever like her cooking!

Tsubaki scolded them, "Ahem! You three stop, the new student isn't someone to eye, he's someone to welcome with open arms."

"Or wide. Open. Legs. Tsubaki~" Makoto snuck in, making Tsubaki glow as red as her hair.

"Makoto! That's so inappropriate!" Tsubaki told her off.

However, the group of girls shared one more laugh before Tsubaki excused herself.

Mai then turned towards Makoto and Noel, "So what are two going to be doing?"

Noel replied, "Oh! We wanted to head over to the Cafeteria to try out their new deserts. Wanna come!?" Noel asked.

Mai and Kajun nodded, "Sure, might as well get something to eat before exploring the mysteries of the school library." Kajun said.

Makoto's eyes gleamed over, "Oh! You were going to do that too! Why don't we all do that after we eat!?"

"Yeah! Let's!" Mai replied.

The girls all cheered in agreement as Makoto and Noel skipped towards the Cafeteria with Mai and Kajun in their grubby little paws.

 **Cafeteria Area**

As always, the dining tables were bustling with students after first period as most students don't have breakfast before class either due to working all-nighters, or just having way too much fun every night… that came out so wrong.

However, on one of the tables somewhere closest to the food counter. Noel and Makoto were going crazy on the sweetest and tastiest options they could find, with the later grabbing extra nuts. Mai was always taken back by how big of an appetite girls had for deserts, she wondered often that maybe she would be the same way if her taste buds weren't jacked up. She spared a glance towards her best friend, Kajun, who was simply munching on a fruit salad. Figures, she did like to eat whatever was good for her looks.

It was at this moment that Kajun told Mai, "Mai, I know you can't really enjoy normal foods, but you've got to have something, you can't always wait for Noel to cook for you."

Mai laughed a little, "I know Kajun, but I'm just trying to get myself really hungry to the point I'll eat absolutely anything." She told her.

Kajun then suggested, "Why not just have Noel season everything like last time? It'll be as if she made herself."

Mai's and Noel's eyes lit up, how did they forget something so important like that. Noel immediately knew what to do, she grabbed any food item that was left on the counter, mixed in some… 'toxic' ingredients and god knows what else she did to it before serving it to Mai with a bright smile.

"Here you go Mai! I did my best to make it look nice, please enjoy!" Noel told her.

The students surrounding her all shifted away, in fear of inhaling whatever toxic fumes that came from Noel's concoction.

Mai's eyes sparkled, "Thanks a bunch Noel! I love the stuff you make!" she told her before happily munching down on what was meant to be a nutty 'n' fruity porridge. As soon as all the girls were close to finishing, they caught wind of an interesting conversation from one of the other groups of students.

"Hey, you hear about the new student in our school?" a student A asked another.

They other guy nodded, "Yeah, the student council and my homeroom teacher wouldn't shut up about him! Something about having abnormally high scores or whatevs!" student B recited.

Then another female student also added, "Guys, you know what it means when a new student comes during the middle of the year, right? Mr. Hot. Shot. Uzuki has to 'welcome' them." Student C reminded them.

They all groaned at the mention of his name.

"Of course, Kazaki Uzuki, thinks he's all that just because his Ars Magus levels are higher than most, comes from a family part of the Duodecim and most of all, thinks he's so tough just because he picks on new juniors each year." Student B spat out with venom, why? This student hated bullies more than anything, being a bullied kid himself.

Student A and C nodded.

"Yeah, I get you! If I had the chance, I'd kick his ass, he really needs it." Student C told them.

"Are you nuts? He may be a show off, but he's still the real deal. He's got private lessons every semester break. Only people like Jin can get him to behave." Student A reminded her.

Noel, Mai, Kajun and Makoto all frowned at the memory of Kazaki Uzuki.

"Oh, that guy, he really disgusts me. What's so fun about picking on others?" Mai asked. They all shrugged.

Noel then recalled, "I remember that one time he tried to get all close on me." She said as she shivered.

Makoto huffed before tell them, "Hm! That guy ain't nothing! Just gave him a little squirrel power, and he knew to keep his hands off Noellers! Serves that sexist and racist bastard right." She said.

Kajun frowned as she nodded. Mai looked between her friends before suggesting.

"Hey, why don't we go off exploring for those hidden rooms in the old part of the Library now?" Mai suggested to forget the sour mood that the name Kazaki Uzuki brought up.

Noel and Makoto's eyes instantly shined, whilst Kajun smiled like she normally does.

"Alright! Time to go on an adventure! RUB BA DUB DUB DAB everyone!" Makoto exclaimed as she lead the way.

 **With Tsubaki**

As for the girls' red-headed friend, she was finally ending the new student's tour of the seventh floor, where the students' dorms were. She and the new student, Mr Mitsuyoshi, stopped in front of a room numbered 666.

"And here's where you'll be staying for the rest of your school days. Unfortunately, you don't have a roommate due to the unexpectedness of your enrolment and the odd number of senior students." Tsubaki told her.

Mitsuyoshi replied, "Yeah, whatever, it's fine. I prefer it that way, wouldn't want to deal with space and rules and all that other shit." He ended up pausing at the end of his sentence.

"Um… I meant 'all that other stuff'! Yeah, that's what I…" he tried to correct himself. But Tsubaki instead giggled in the new student's slip-up.

"It's okay Mr Mitsuyoshi, everyone has their quirks and shortcomings. I make it a habit of mine to accept everyone for who they are, or at least respect them. So, I don't mind your language much, but do please keep it to a minimum." Tsubaki told him with a smile.

Mitsuyoshi nodded, "Ah… right, I'll do that. Anyway, that's the end of the tour, right? You got some things you need taking care of?"

Tsubaki nodded, "Yes, I do. I do hope we can get along in the future Mitsuyoshi. Take care." She bid him farewell.

Left to his own devices, he entered his dorm and gave it a clean sweep.

"Damn! This is fancier than most hotels, well, ones I could afford, but yeah. And I get it all to myself." Mitsuyoshi commented on the high-end wooden furniture, queen sized beds, a wooden study desk with books all prepared for his use, a TV and even a sparkling white bathroom.

Mitsuyoshi then eyed the uniform before tossing back down.

"Like I'd wear this crap." He critiqued the article of clothing harshly.

Finding nothing to do, he decided to venture out of his dorm and do some more exploring since he technically had the entire morning off until someone would come along and show him his Armagus Lab class.

His stomach growled.

"Great. I should have asked that chick where the cafeteria was again, I'm hungry. If I remember, she said it was between the courtyard, in front of the Sophomores' building" Mitsuyoshi recalled.

He began to retrace his steps into his little journey to find the cafeteria.

A solid 20 minutes in, he managed to find the gate which he and Tsubaki passed when they entered the Senior's dormitory grounds.

As he walked passed however, the bell rang which suggested that first break was over, and the other students had to attend class. Mitsuyoshi sighed, hopefully the Cafeteria was still open. He checked his watch, it told him the time was 11:00AM.

"Just an hour and a half til my first class here. Now where was the Cafeteria? Oh, that building there." Mitsuyoshi began heading towards the section of a building where a bunch of students were coming through.

However, a rather mocking and smug voice got his attention.

"Hey you! Never seen you around here! You lost newbie?" the guy asked.

Mitsuyoshi turned to see some guy with slicked back, black hair. His uniform was worn with his buttoned-up shirt open revealing his chest muscles and his sleeves rolled up.

He asked, "Well, kinda, who are you?" Mitsuyoshi asked.

The guy grinned, "Me? I'm Kazaki Uzuki, you're a new student and I'd like to welcome you. What cha looking for, newbie?" Kazaki asked with a tone that screamed fake.

"Well, I'm just trying to find the Cafeteria, haven't had anything since yesterday." Mitsuyoshi told him.

Kazaki grinned, "Well follow me then, I'll show you where the Cafeteria is!"

Mitsuyoshi thanked him but had to ask.

"Hey, thanks, but uh… aren't you meant to be going to class?" he reminded him.

Kazaki blew his lips, "PFFT! As if, I already know everything! Come on, I'll show you where you can find the grub."

Kazaki began to lead Mitsuyoshi to the open courtyard where everyone could see from almost all the buildings.

However, one student saw them.

"Oh no! This is bad! I gotta tell everyone!" this student ran off.

 **With Mai, Noel, Makoto and Kajun**

The girls had returned from their little adventure in the Library disappointed. They barely had any time to explore and not to mention, they hadn't found any of the secret rooms that they were hoping to find in the Library.

"Oh man! This sucks nuts! Nothing interesting was even in there!" Makoto exclaimed.

Noel nodded with a bit of a miserable whine.

Mai also sighed, she also wanted to find another room, hopefully with the Azure Grimoire.

Kajun told them, "Now, now, we still have next break and tomorrow even. We'll definitely find the secret rooms later."

The girls all nodded in agreement, they still had plenty of times.

As the girls made their way to class, they met up with Tsubaki who happened to be in the same class Noel, Mai and Kajun for Advanced Armagus lab; where not only theory is learned, but is applied, experimentation is encouraged.

Makoto knew this was where she parted ways with them since her Ars Magus levels weren't as high as theirs.

"Well looks like I'm gonna be so lonely in my class, seeya next break!" Makoto told them until a certain student ran through the halls screaming.

"EVERYONE! KAZAKI IS AT IT AGAIN! HE'S AFTER THE NEW STUDENT!" this guy informed everyone.

Everyone was in disarray, they all wanted to know where this 'beatdown' was happening.

The girls looked frightened.

"Mitsuyoshi!? No! I just showed him his room! And Kazaki is already picking on him? Why hasn't his family done anything about him?" Tsubaki questioned.

Noel looked frightened and felt bad for the new student, "Oh! I hope he's okay. Should we help him?"

Mai agreed, "I think we should, this has gone on long enough. We can't just stand by and let this happen all the time."

Makoto pumped her right fist in the air.

"Yeah! Mai's right! We gotta give him another taste of Squirrel power again!" she cheered.

The girls nodded. Kajun asked the boy where the fight was being held.

He told everyone that it was in the courtyard.

All the students who heard about this fight were now headed towards the courtyard.

As soon as everyone got there, they all tried to push through to get a better view. In the process, the girls were pushed to the front.

Tsubaki gasped, "Huh! There they are, Kazaki and… oh no… it's Mitsuyoshi!"

"Huh? Mitsuyoshi? Isn't that the name of the new student you showed around?" Kajun asked Tsubaki, to which she responded with a yes.

Noel was flailing about, "WUAH! What do we do!? He's in trouble!" Makoto then placed a comforting hand on Noel's shoulder.

"It's gonna be alright, Noellers! I'm gonna give Kazaki a taste of Squirrel power!" Makoto told her.

As everyone was wondering if they should intervene or not. Mai wasn't saying anything. In fact, staring at this Mitsuyoshi took her breath away. She couldn't see his face but could recognise that hairdo anywhere, even if she only saw it once before.

"White, spikey hair… could it be him?" Mai wondered out loud.

Kajun caught it, "Hm? Is that someone you know Mai?" she asked.

Mai stuttered, "Wah! No! I just thought I've seen him somewhere before."

Makoto was then getting ready to bomber dive straight into Kazaki and his goons. But Tsubaki stopped her.

"Makoto! Don't! We're not going to resort to violence to fix this!" Tsubaki told her.

Makoto tried to argue, "But Tsubaki! How else are we going to stop him?"

Tsubaki suggested, "We're going to do this the diplomatic way. Even when you hit him last time, he didn't learn his lesson. Maybe a threat about reporting his true behaviour to his family will work."

As the girl discussing ways in how they could resolve this matter. Mai simply told them.

"Hey girls, there's no need to worry." Mai said.

Her friends looked at her like she was crazy.

"Huh!? Are you nuts? The new student's day is about to pooped on! And you're saying there ain't nothing to worry about!?" Makoto said.

Mai nodded, "Yeah, but I can tell based on the way that Mitsuyoshi moves, that he'll definitely come out okay."

The girls were still unsure about his, but trusted Mai as she had a background in Martial Arts. Everyone began to watch the fight between Kazaki and Mitsuyoshi unravel.

 **With Kazaki with his goons and Mitsuyoshi**

The courtyard was a rather spacious area, about the same size of a basketball court, there were two footpaths that were parallel to each other, only a perpendicular pathway joined them together, which had a fountain in the middle with four benches surrounding the fountain. Of course, there were even some gardens on the edges.

Before they arrived at the courtyard, Mitsuyoshi had realised that Kazaki was misleading him. Even he knew that the Cafeteria was way back at where he started. He had a feeling this guy wanted a piece of him.

'Is this guy trying to pick a fight with me? Fine by me, I want to see what this school has to offer.' Mitsuyoshi thought to himself.

Kazaki stopped and turned around, with four guys behind him appearing.

"Where the heck did you take me? This is way off from where I was told the Cafeteria would be, what are you playing at?" Mitsuyoshi asked.

Kazaki began to laugh like an evil villain.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh, you newbies are so gullible! Always listening to everybody like a lost little puppy! So, I'm gonna give you two choices, 1: Kneel and lick my shoes like the puppy you are, or 2: I'll show you how I welcome those who don't follow orders." He smirked cockily with his goons chuckling evilly.

Mitsuyoshi could see a crowd in the upper floors gathering.

'Great! First day and I'm already making headlines! How fantastic!' he thought sarcastically.

"Lick your shoes? That's some kinky shit you're into! Not exactly a fan of that kind of fetish, but I'm not judging! So, what do those boys of yours take care of? Your 'needs'?" Mitsuyoshi emphasised the word 'needs' in a rather suggestive manner.

A few gasps and 'oohhh's could be heard from the crowd upstairs.

Kazaki was gritting his teeth, "Well, we got ourselves a clever one here, but I wonder how long you'll keep saying things like that when I'm through with YOU!" he shouted as he charged Mitsuyoshi.

Mitsuyoshi was just staring at Kazaki with an indifferent look on his face, as if he wasn't even concerned and simply tilted his head to dodge Kazaki's punch.

Kazaki then began trying to mix up his attacks using his Muay Thai skills to try land a decent blow on Mitsuyoshi, but to no avail as he was just dodging way too easily for his taste.

"HIYAH! Damn it you little! Hold still!" Kazaki screamed at him.

Mitsuyoshi replied as he stepped back, "Why? You can't hit anything unless it's not moving? Fine, here you happy?" he taunted as he stood still.

Kazaki looked red faced with anger and humiliation. Never had he been this outmatched and underestimated. His anger clouding his judgement, he used Ars Magus to boost his speed whilst launching himself forward into a flying knee to Mitsuyoshi's face.

However, Mitsuyoshi, true to his word, didn't move but waited for Kazaki to come close enough for him to send out a left jab to his face. Kazaki in mid-air, flipped backwards as he went forward and fell on his face. He got up, nose broken and bleeding, his once handsome face, now a hideous scowl due to Mitsuyoshi scratching his head as if he was taunting him.

Kazaki charged forward again, this time aiming for a low kick but was countered by Mitsuyoshi's spinning roundhouse to his gut that blew him back a few meters and before he could recover, Mitsuyoshi started his own attack this time.

He leaped into the air with his left fist smashing into Kazaki's skull.

"GAUNTLET!" Mitsuyoshi began as he struck Kazaki's skull. Cracks could be heard by everyone, making a few lose their lunch.

Then Mitsuyoshi span before he used his right knee to kick into his sternum.

"HADES!" Mitsuyoshi blew Kazaki into a wall that shattered from the force.

Mitsuyoshi dusted himself off before saying, "Had enough?" in a gruff voice.

Kazaki then spat out some blood, he ordered his goons.

"What are you guys doing!? Get him!"

One by one, his goons charged at Mitsuyoshi, who tackled the first one into a throw he aimed at the next one coming. The one who was targeted caught his comrade but Mitsuyoshi used this to his advantage by delivering a solid left straight through them both into a wall, knocking them both out.

Then Mitsuyoshi set his sights on the third one who was in the middle was throwing a Cobra punch at him. But Mitsuyoshi ducked underneath it and threw a left uppercut into the guy's chin, putting him into next week.

After that, Mitsuyoshi glared down at the last goon who he was pretty sure had wet his pants.

"What's wrong? You scared? Well, you should be! This is what it's like being the victim, not a nice feeling is it?" Mitsuyoshi told the last goon who could do nothing but nod.

Then he heard Kazaki charging at him again, but this time, he was holding a special great sword that was glowing with Ars Magus power.

"You are mine!" he shouted as he raised his sword.

 **Up with the spectators**

Gasps and awes were heard as this new student mopped the floor with Kazaki, admittingly one of the greatest fighters that the NOL was hoping to enlist in their ranks.

But when Kazaki brought out the sword, Tsubaki screamed.

"No! He can't use that! It's too dangerous!" Tsubaki shouted in horror.

Noel asked her, "W-What is it Tsubaki? Why is that sword so dangerous?"

Tsubaki explained, "That's the Uzuki family's special sword, it's said to be light than a dagger, but its attacks deliver at least a ton of force, but most importantly, it's able to be able to amplify a user's Arsmagus 10-fold. If he uses that, Mitsuyoshi and that friend of Kazaki's will die."

The people who heard this all gasped in horror. How will Mitsuyoshi escape this one.

Then they saw Kazaki unleash an energy wave full of blue energy at Mitsuyoshi and his old goon. When it hit, nothing but smoke could be seen.

Mai looked on with a firm grip on the rail.

'No… I know that man survived… I can still feel his presence.' Mai told herself.

 **Back to the fight**

Kazaki was huffing and puffing, he was laughing slowly thinking he had won.

"HEH! That guy's not so tough now! Hahaha!" He laughed maniacally until he heard.

"YOU IDIOT!" Mitsuyoshi screamed at Kazaki as he slugged him in the gut.

Kazaki tried to attack Mitsuyoshi with his sword, but Mitsuyoshi saw this and decided to make short work of the weapon.

"Someone like you shouldn't even be wielding a weapon." Mitsuyoshi said as he shattered the Uzuki family sword into pieces by punching straight into it.

Kazaki's eyes grew wide, "T-T-T-That was my family's… DO YOU REALISE WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!?"

"Yeah, I kicked your ass." Mitsuyoshi replied as he tripped Kazaki then picked him up by the throat in his left hand leaving many bewildered by the level of strength he had.

"You're too weak to stand in front of me." Mitsuyoshi told him before slugging him through the gut one last time into the wall, this time, he was buried underneath a pile of bricks.

He sighed in relief as he was finished, then walked to the last conscious goon who was cowering in fear.

"Hey, are you alright?" Mitsuyoshi asked.

However, the goon kept mummering on and on about Kazaki's actions.

"He attacked me as well? Why?" the goon said.

Mitsuyoshi growled in frustration, "Look, that guy obviously cares about no one but himself, you might want to consider making some real friends." He told him.

The goon nodded, "You won't hurt me too, right?" he asked fearful of Mitsuyoshi.

"I won't, unless you want to try me, or else scram!" he shouted making the goon run away.

Mitsuyoshi then cracked his neck.

"Damn, I wanted too much time, barely have time to eat before class." Mitsuyoshi muttered as he walked back to where that Tsubaki chick had told him where the Cafeteria would be.

 **With the girls**

All the girls, no… everyone had their jaws unhinged.

"Oh my god… girls! Did you see how he manhandled that little turd! He was WHAM! THEN BOOM! Hoho! Holy cow that was awesome!" Makoto exclaimed along with many of the other students saying the similar comments.

Tsubaki and Noel nodded to their tailed friend.

"Yeah, I guess that's why the school was so excited to have him in our school. They did mention him being a very capable individual now that I think about it." Tsubaki replied.

Noel nodded with a smile, "Wow, he was so strong! And I didn't sense him using any Ars Magus the whole time!"

Kajun was deep in thought about this new student until she commented.

"I'm going to place my bet that he has probably been trained by some super elite teachers before he was enrolled. After all, it's not uncommon for wealthy families to do that." Kajun theorised.

The girls nodded.

Mai then commented, "Well, who knows, I could tell that he was strong just by his posture. He was really relaxed, yet firm in his posture."

The girls just nodded, "Well, just leave it to the Martial Arts girl to check out someone's strength." Makoto said.

Then a bunch of teachers and the student body came telling everyone to get back to class. Amongst them, was Jin Kisaragi.

"Everyone, please get back to your classes. What's done is done, we'll take care things from here!" Jin told them.

Tsubaki's eye lit up, "Oh! Jin, where were you? Did you see what happened?"

Jin shook his head, "No, I didn't see. But for where I was, I was in the Library, studying during my free period. What happened here?"

That was when Makoto came in, "Oh boy! You missed out on the beatdown of the century! The new guy was like 'come git sum' then went all KYA! WHOA! HIYAH! KNOCKOUT! DING DING DING!" she recited the fight in a way that made her friends laugh.

Jin smiled a bit, "Really? I guess the new student shows some promise… more than a certain someone in this vicinity…" he ended coldly as he glared at Noel, who flinch at his gaze.

Tsubaki noticed this, "Jin, please, what did I say about this?" she asked.

JIn sighed, "I know, but this is none of your concern Tsubaki." He told her.

Mai not wanting for another fight to happen, stepped in, "Well then, how about we all get back to class, nothing interesting is happening anymore." She suggested.

They all agreed and went to their long-awaited class.

 **With Mai**

Half an hour had gone by, with everyone eager to pair up with someone and do some experiment that involved using Ars Magus to create some rudimentary spell that created a light. It would be a very handy ability to learn in situations where light sources weren't readily available.

But the cool part about this experiment was that if two people used this spell together, they could use the light a form of self-defence. If one was powerful enough, like Noel by nature, then they could turn this simple torch spell into a deadly laser beam. As the lesson was halfway through, they could hear some outside the room shouting obscenities and struggling.

"OW! Hey, the hell you do think you're doing!? I didn't even get to touch my Udon!? What!? My class started how long ago!? Why the heck didn't you guys mention that to me in that fricking letter you gave me!? Ouch! Hey, stop pulling so hard you asshole!" a gruff voice sounded.

Then the door opened, revealing Miss McKenzie.

"Sorry to interrupt your class, but I needed to bring one of your new students in today. Mr Mitsuyoshi." She called.

He got up rubbing his neck, "Ow, did you have to pull me by my hair!?" Mitsuyoshi asked.

The teacher of Mai's class told everyone to stop and listen to the new student's introduction.

Mai's eyes widened. This man was dressed in a black uniform shirt and baggy Hakama, with black, steel-toed boots. His narrow face looked as if he was in a constantly bad mood and his spiked back hair was white, but what really stood out were his heterochronic eyes, his right eye was crimson whilst his left was an emerald colour.

Mai had no more doubts that this was the man she met down in level 10.

Mitsuyoshi introduced himself, "Well, ah… Hey guys, my name's Ragna… Mitsuyoshi. You know, the guy who you saw beat the shit out of someone earlier, you guys see that? Um… and please to meet you all and hope you all… take care of me?" he ended unsurely of his introduction.

The whole room was silent for a minute, making Ragna feel as if he had messed up his introduction badly.

'Shit! Did I mess up? No! I practiced that speech all night! FFUUU!' he thought.

Then the whole class clapped for him.

"Nice to meet Ragna!" A student greeted him.

"Hey, Ragna~ Want to get to know each other after class?" a girl seductively asked him.

"Mate! You kick ass Ragna! You can sit next to me next break!" another dude called.

Ragna blinked a few times at the round of applauses until the teacher shouted.

"Quiet! You're going to make Ragna feel nervous! Now, who to pair you up with?" the teacher looked around for any empty spots.

Then he pointed towards a table with one seat left.

"Over there! You can be partnered up with Mai for this assessment, she can help with you catch up on any details you need and don't be afraid to ask questions and that all goes for all of you lot! Don't be ashamed to admit you don't understand or know something, teachers are here to help, capeesh!?" the teacher ended with all the students responding with a synchronised "Yes!"

Ragna then slowly made his way to the empty seat passed many other students, who all commented on how much taller he was than everyone in the class and a few shifted uncomfortably at how intimidating his aura was.

Ragna eventually sat down and turned to greet his partner for his assessment.

"Hey Mai, it's nice to meet you and all that, hope you can guide me through this class." He told her without really acknowledging her.

Mai shifted a little uncomfortably, did he not remember who she was, or did she have the wrong guy? Oh well, it wouldn't do her harm to confirm.

"Yes, it's nice to meet you to Mr Mitsuyoshi…" Mai replied, but Ragna cut her off.

"Just Ragna, all that Mister stuff makes me feel all weird, you know." Ragna told her.

Mai apologised a bit before telling him, "Alright Ragna, but um… it's nice to meet you again, I didn't get to thank you for last time!" she told him, this got his full attention if him taking a good look at Mai didn't say enough. Mai grew a little pink at the attention he was paying her.

"Oh! You're that woman I met the other day, I remember! So, you made it out okay! That's a relief!" Ragna replied as he recalled their earlier encounter back down in Level 10 of Torifune.

Mai smiled brightly, "Yeah! That's right! Thanks a bunch for helping me out that time, I couldn't have made it without you." She thanked him.

Ragna smiled, "Heh! Don't mention it, I couldn't just leave someone to fend for themselves, anyone would have done what I did." He told her.

Mai nodded then began to compliment about his skills, "Yeah and by the way, you are a really strong individual! I can't believe how easily you too care of Kazaki, one of the best in our school." She told him.

Ragna shrugged, "Really? That was one of the school's best? He sure went down easily?" he stated bluntly.

Mai giggled at Ragna's blunt manner of speaking, it was for some odd reason very entertaining to hear him make comments like the one he just made.

However, the teacher called out to the two of them.

"Hey Ragna, now isn't the time to be flirting with one of the girls! Get to work!" the teacher shouted across the room.

People giggled at the two causing Mai to look down in embarrassment.

'F-Flirting with me? Come on! I'm a guy at heart! I shouldn't be so affected by that statement?' Mai kept telling herself.

Ragna looked miffed, "What the heck are you on about? She's the one who wanted to talk to me." He responded.

The teacher responded, "Oh! So, you're saying she was hitting on you, ay!?" The students began to laugh at their interaction.

Ragna shrugged, "If that's what it's called, then yeah."

Mai looked down even more embarrassed, 'Like I kept telling myself, I'm still a guy at heart!'

After a few minutes, Ragna and Mai finally went to work on their assessment.

"Alright, please teach me how to do this spell Mai." He asked gruffly.

Mai nodded and directed him about how to create a light ball. It was just a bunch of trial and error attempts, eventually, Ragna managed to create a ball of light, in fact, he was the second one in class to create it, the first one being Noel.

"Woah! You already got it down, you're good at this! I haven't even managed to make a spark!" Mai said.

Ragna played it off, "It wasn't as hard as the instructions make it out to be, you just think about something bright, not my future, that's for damn sure." He joked. Mai giggled again, it's been a while since she was able to hang out with another dude like this.

"But back on track, you think of something bright, then let it flow into a ball and you should get something like this. You try it out now" he told her.

Mai nodded before doing what he suggested, she thought of the brightest thing she could, first it was a light bulb, but nothing happened, then she recalled Ragna's little joke about his grim future. Maybe it didn't literally have to be a bright object, a memory perhaps.

She thought about her friends, all the time they have spent together and how they made her feel. She began to feel very warm in both her chest and hands. Slowly, her eyes fluttered open to see that she had managed to create a ball of bright light.

"Wow!" she said quietly in amazement.

"Wow it is, now we can get on with the last part of this assessment." Ragna said quickly obviously wanting to just get this over and done with.

Mai complied, but the two for some reason struggled with this second part, they both kept checking the instructions over and over, but they couldn't figure out what they were doing wrong.

Then finally, class ended meaning lunch began.

Ragna got up and stretched his back whilst Mai did much the same.

"God damn it, I don't get why they have to write this shit so complicated. It's like they want us fail of something." Ragna said.

Mai nodded, "Agreed, even I don't understand why they do it."

Then eventually, Mai's friends came up to them.

"Hey Mai and Ragna, was it? Please to meet you, I'm Kajun." She offered her hand.

Ragna replied, "Nice to meet you too, Kajun. So… you're Mai's friend, huh?"

Kajun smiled at him and said, "Well, you don't seem to be scary as you were during that fight, that's a nice bonus if I ever seen one."

Ragna looked confused, "Huh? Bonus? The heck are you on about? Wait! Do I really look scary?" he asked.

Kajun just nodded with her usual smile making Ragna grumble about insensitive bastards. Then Tsubaki came up to the three.

"Hello Mr Mitsuyoshi, we meet again." Tsubaki greeted Ragna.

"Ragna spared a glance towards her, "Oh! You again, thanks again for showing me around earlier, I really appreciate it." He thanked her.

Tsubaki bowed slightly, "It wasn't much, by the way, impressive fight earlier, with how you dealt with Kazaki, I don't think even Makoto hurt him that badly last time."

Ragna blinked before asking, "Um? Who's Makoto?"

Tsubaki apologised, "Oh! My apologies, she's a friend of ours, not many people really respect her, but she's a good person if she likes you." She informed Ragna.

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind… and can you just call me Ragna, all the Mister and Misses stuff makes me feel weird." Ragna requested.

They all kept his request in mind, however, one last person in the room needed introduce themselves.

Tsubaki looked behind her and edged her blonde friend on.

"Noel! Come on, don't be shy. Introduce yourself." Tsubaki told her.

Noel fidgeted before managing to tell Ragna.

"H-Hello, R-R-Ragna! It's n-n-nice to meet you! I'm Noel Vermillion." She stuttered, still being nervous around new people who weren't her friends.

Ragna smiled, "Yeah, please to meet you too! No…. el….." he ended slowly whilst his voice left him.

The girl in front of him had made him remember so many memories from his childhood, those better days he wished never ended, with him always running about trying to keep his siblings together and doing his best to make them happy even if he was unwell himself.

His gaze lingered on Noel's face for what seemed like ages. There was no doubt, if she was a little older, she would have looked just like that.

"Um… excuse me Ragna? D-Did I s-say something wrong?" Noel asked making him snap out of it.

Ragna blinked, "What? No, I just spaced out a little… yeah, anyway, nice meeting you too Noel." He said rather quickly.

The girls blinked a little at Ragna's demeanour around Noel, it was as if he was frightened by her.

Kajun then used this opportunity to say, "Well, now that introductions are out of the way, why don't we meet up with Makoto for lunch?"

Noel then suddenly lost her nervousness and cheered, "Yay! Now we can finally have some of that Walnut parfait that Makoto was talking about!" Mai, Tsubaki and Kajun all giggled at Noel.

"When it comes to dessert, you always get so excited." Mai commented.

Noel then replied, "I can't help it! Sweets never fill me up!" she replied.

Tsubaki giggled, "Oh Noel~ You need to learn some self-control." She told her.

The girls went on and on about dessert. Ragna however was subconsciously comparing and matching Noel's features and traits to his lost younger Sister.

'She even acts just like Saya… Damn it all! Why does the world have to mess with my head like this!?' Ragna raged in his mind.

Then he heard Kajun call out to him, "Excuse me Ragna, aren't you coming with us? You're falling behind."

Ragna blinked, "Oh, yeah, just thinking to myself that's all, okay girls, lead the way."

The girls and Ragna then marched onwards towards the Cafeteria, on the way, a certain fluffy cannonball flipped many people over as she slid to a stop in front of the group.

"Hey! I'm back! Oh god! I missed you guys! UWAH! HAHOH! Class was so boring!" Makoto sobbed into Tsubaki's shirt.

"H-Hey Ma-Makoto! Your getting my shirt wet!" Tsubaki flailed with her friend in her embrace.

Noel giggled at her friends, "Hey Makoto! Long time no see! You ready to get that parfait you were talking about?" she asked her.

Makoto suddenly sprung back to life from her 'sobbing'.

"HECK YEAH! That's what I have been waiting for all my life! Let's go!" Makoto pointed down the corridor where there was a congregation of students being swallowed inside by a door leading to the cafeteria.

Tsubaki then reminded her energetic friend, "Um, Makoto, I believe you have someone to introduce yourself to."

Makoto then paused before turning to see Ragna, the new student.

Makoto's energetic and happy-go-lucky personality toned down a bit before speaking to Ragna.

"Okay, I'm Makoto, a squirrel Beastkin, nice to meet you Ragna." She greeted whilst eying him as if she was trying to figure out what kind of person he was.

Ragna looked at her for a bit, making all the girls feel a little uncomfortable, was the new student a Beastkin-hater too?

Ragna grinned, "You're a Beastkin? Cool! I didn't think I'd ever get to meet one here out of all places!" he said with some excitement.

The girls were all taken back, none more so than Makoto.

"Wait! Aren't you gonna go like 'Ew! Beastkin! Keep your fleas away from me!' or something like that?" Makoto questioned the new student.

Ragna looked confused, "Why would I bother to do that?" he asked.

Mai then took over, "Well… not many people like Beastkins and Makoto had to deal with some racism against her kind." She told him.

Makoto deflated at the mention of that, those weren't memories she wanted dug out.

Ragna hearing this clicked his tongue in barely restrained disgust and anger.

"Tch! Stupid! Judging someone based on what they couldn't help having. What a load of crap." He spat.

The girls were surprised by just how passionate this seemingly cool and bad-boyish guy was about the whole Beastkin topic.

Makoto then asked in a rare timid voice, "Y-you really don't mind Beastkins?"

Ragna then bluntly replied, "No, I don't, in fact, I… kinda wish I had a tail too." He admitted.

Makoto then returned to being her usual energetic self.

"Then you're a one of my pals already! Come on Ragna, we got some munching to do! Yeah!" Makoto then raced off towards the Cafeteria.

Noel then tried to keep up with her, "M-Makoto, wait for me!"

Tsubaki called out to the two of them, "Hey! No running in the halls!"

But they didn't listen, meaning Tsubaki had to power walk to catch up. Ragna looked impassive at the three best friends, whilst Mai and Kajun looked at him curiously, which eventually got his attention.

"The hell are you two staring at?" Ragna asked quite roughly.

Mai flinched whilst Kajun smiled.

"Well, it just seems that we'll be getting along just fine. I thought you'd be another delinquent. But you actually have a pretty big heart." Kajun told him.

Ragna scratched his head nervously, "I wouldn't say that about myself, but I ah… I guess I could kind of relate to Squirrelly."

Kajun nodded, "I see, but regardless, I accept you as a friend of ours, right Mai?"

Mai nodded in agreement, "Of course! I think you're a good person, I would like to have you as our friend!" Mai told Ragna.

Ragna grinned a little, "Friend, huh? Well I guess school isn't so bad. Alright, let's grab a bite, I haven't had anything cos that bitch earlier dragged me away from my Udon." He ended with a slightly bitter after tone.

However, Kajun and Mai just giggled at him.

 **In the Cafeteria**

Noel and Makoto were in the middle of demolishing every limited edition Walnut Parfait there was, with Tsubaki barely eating a bite per minute.

"Oh man! This is so good! The sweetness of the hazelnut ice-cream, combined with the salted walnuts and caramel~ It's heavenly! This is what I live for!" Makoto described her parfait.

Tsubaki and Noel smiled at Makoto.

"Everything looks tasty when you eat it Makoto. But slow down, you're going to have a brain freeze." Tsubaki warned her.

Too late, Makoto began to hold her head in pain.

"What did I say?" Tsubaki told her.

Makoto eventually recovered and replied, "Worth it."

Tsubaki giggled again, however, she noticed Noel looked quite upset.

"Is anything the matter Noel?" Tsubaki asked and Makoto looked towards Noel, "Yeah, you haven't eaten your fourth parfait yet, you'd usually be smothered in your seventh by now Noellers."

Noel slumped, "Oh, it's nothing… actually, it's about Ragna."

Tsubaki asked, "What about him?"

Noel began to explain, "The way he looked at me and how he acted after I introduced myself, it was the same as when I first met Jin. I don't think Ragna is going to like me." She ended solemnly.

Tsubaki and Makoto frowned, they did notice that Ragna did act a little weird around Noel, but they hoped that it wasn't the same case as Jin's where he absolutely dreaded Noel.

Tsubaki reassured her, "Don't worry Noel, it's still too soon to say that. Maybe things will work out."

Noel asked, "You think so?" Makoto supported Tsubaki.

"Heck yeah! If not, I'll give him a taste of my raw power! No one upsets my friends and gets away with it!" Makoto told her.

Noel began to laugh, forgetting any anxiety.

Then Mai, Kajun and Ragna arrived on scene.

"Hey guys! Sorry for keeping you three waiting." Mai apologised.

They said it was no problem and let them have a seat.

The girls began to talk about anything they could think of, eventually Ragna spoke their conversation.

"Hey, I don't mean to interrupt, but I'm hungry, you guys mind telling me how I get food around?" he asked a little bit annoyed.

Makoto then looked over at the food counter, then back at Ragna.

"Oh crud! Tough luck! Everything is all sold out!" Makoto told him.

Ragna's eyes went wide, "Seriously!? For real!?"

Makoto nodded, Ragna slumped, "Great, first day and here I am, starving… I blame that chick who dragged my ass away from my Udon…" he lamented and cursed McKenzie.

Noel then made him an offer, "W-Well, if you don't mind, I'm willing to cook something for you." She offered shyly.

Everyone in the dining area turned pale. They hoped that the new student wouldn't fall victim to the 'Death Dinner' on his first day.

Ragna surprisingly, turned pale as well, "Um… I'm not too sure…" however, Mai cut him off.

"Really!? Then you'll make me something as well!? I love the food you make!" Mai told Noel.

Noel beamed and nodded at Mai's request.

Ragna looked towards Mai who was sitting across from him, next to Kajun.

"Really? Is her food that good?" Ragna asked Mai.

Mai nodded like a mad-woman.

"Yep! It's heavenly! I can't eat anything else!" she literally meant that.

However, Ragna thought she meant it figuratively.

"Okay, then sure Noel, I'll have some of your food, give me your shot." He told her.

Noel then grinned widely, "Okay! I'll make sure to make enough for you, Mai and you three as well!"

Tsubaki, Makoto and Kajun already told her they were full and not to bother.

Noel nodded, though a little disappointed.

Noel skipped towards the kitchen where she began to create her 'death dinner'.

Ragna looked at everyone in the area who were all praying to some god, then he looked back at Mai who was humming happily.

"You sure are happy, is Noel's food really something to get that excited about?" Ragna asked.

Mai nodded, "Of course! I literally can't eat anything thing unless she cooks it! I would have starved to death if it wasn't for her."

Ragna blinked before smirking at Mai, "Oh! So, you're a really picky eater, then that must mean Noel's food is good, now I can't wait to see what the fuss is about." He said a little excited.

Kajun then tried to warn Ragna, "No… that's not the case, her taste buds are…"

"Here you go! Chicken curry with Rice! Enjoy!" Noel told them as she set down the two plates of what was meant to be curry and rice.

Mai's eyes sparkled, "Wow! Thanks for the meal!" she said before digging in.

Ragna was just staring at his plate.

'It looks… like… actual shit…' Ragna thought as he eyed the black and green sludge emanating a black miasma. Then he looked up at Mai who was already half way done.

'Meh! Why the hell not! If she's enjoying, then so will I!" Ragna thought.

However, when he stuck his spoon in and pulled it out he ran into a dilemma.

"Um, Ragna? Aren't you going to eat my cooking?" Noel asked.

Mai then looked like a kid on sugar, "If you don't want it, then I'll have it!" she offered.

Ragna replied, 'What!? No! It's just that… my spoon melted." As he eyed his not useless cutlery.

Everyone on the table blinked, that was new and possibly… very dangerous.

"Wait, how come Mai's spoon isn't melted yet? She's been gouging at it for a while now!" Makoto questioned.

Kajun then theorised, "Maybe her spoon is different… Hey Mai, let Ragna use your spoon for a second."

Mai looked reluctant but gave it up. Ragna took it from her hand and thanked her.

He tried scooping the 'curry' out again, but the new spoon melted as well.

"Huh? The hell!? Did you put something different in mine Noel?" Ragna asked.

Noel flailed and told him, "What!? No! I didn't I swear!"

Ragna then took another spoon from one of Makoto's pile of parfait bowls and experimented with it by trying to get some of Mai's, but the same thing happened. The spoon melted.

"Are you kidding me? I can't even use a spoon!?" Ragna questioned.

Everyone on the table were blessing whatever gods were at work for saving the new student from certain horror.

However, Noel came up with a great idea.

"I know! How about Mai feeds Ragna herself!"

Mai's face lit up whilst Ragna turned a bit pink.

"Yeah! That's a great idea Noel! I wouldn't what him not to realise how good your food is!"

"It isn't, really, it's not." Tsubaki said quietly.

Ragna however, was a bit embarrassed, "W-Wait a sec! You're going to feed me!? I'm not a kid!?"

Mai brushed it off, "Don't worry! I just want you to see how good Noel's cooking is! Here! Say ahh!"

Ragna turned a little more red. But he rationalised, it was just a method of getting around the melting spoon situation, not only that, his first day, he made friends who all happened to be a bunch of pretty girls and now, one of those pretty girls were offering him food in a way that's seem as affectionate. What did he have to lose?

"*Groan* Alright, ahh." Mai put the spoonful of 'curry' into Ragna's mouth.

Three.

Two.

One.

"AARRRHHHH! NO! I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE! AHHHH!" Ragna howled in pain.

The students praying to the gods were now hoping for the new student to rest in peace.

Ragna was managing to recover, but was about to make another comment that involved seeing his life flash before his eyes until his eyes met Noel's, which were slowly starting to well up with tears.

Ragna sweat dropped, he felt a little ashamed as he realised what he had done.

"So… is my cooking… that terrible? *Sob*" Noel was slowly beginning to cry.

As Ragna saw this, he remembered seeing this from somewhere back in his younger days.

A 13 year old Ragna was on the verge of throwing up the dish that Saya had made. But she was about to cry for being such a terrible cook.

Back to the present, Ragna did the one thing he did then, that he never would have thought that he do now.

"Mai, I'd like to have another bite." Ragna asked shocking everyone in the dining hall.

Noel looked surprised.

Mai offered Ragna another bite, which he took and chewed, his face glowered, but he didn't have such a big reaction this time.

Then he asked for another one, which he took without so much as a wince.

Tsubaki, Makoto and Kajun as well as the entire dining hall had their jaws on the ground. Was this really happening?

Noel then asked, "Huh? Why are you?"

Ragna swallowed, then took a huge gulp of water to wash the taste away.

"Why I'm eating it, well, sure it doesn't taste good, to be honest, but you know, I can tell you put a lot of effort into this, it'd be a waste to not eat it." Ragna told her.

Noel's eye lit up, "You mean…" Ragna nodded.

"Yeah, it's still edible, but you know what, just keep practicing and eventually you'll get good at it. As long as you put your heart into it, okay." Ragna told her as he put his left hand on her head.

Noel looked up at him, for a second, she saw a memory of hers flash of a boy who did exactly what Ragna was doing now. She smiled and hugged him.

"Thank you." Noel said as she cried happily into his shirt.

"Hey, hey! Don't go all water fountain on me! Hey, are you listening!?" Ragna said.

As Ragna struggled to get Noel off him. The girls on the table as well as everyone in the dining hall began to see who this Ragna was.

He may act like a delinquent and say things that were rather unpleasant, but he looked out for others all the same.

However, the moment of Noel hugging Ragna came to an end, when the delayed effects of Noel's death dinner made Ragna foam at the mouth and pass out.

"Huh? WAH! Ragna! Are you okay!? Ragna please wake up!" Noel shook his unconscious body.

Everyone sighed, despite all that, even Ragna couldn't defeat the power of the death dinner.

 **5:30PM, the First Aid room.**

Ragna could be seen in a bed in the first aid room, recovering from what the nurse said he was suffering from 'stomach acid' courtesy of Noel's death dinner.

He was feeling much better than he did before due to his Azure Grimoire allowing him to a faster recovery time if he offered it human souls. Looking to his left side, he took notice that Mai was visiting him.

"Hey man, sorry for not warning you about Noel's cooking…" Mai apologised.

Ragna looked kind of annoyed, "Yeah, no shit, how the hell do you even find that stuff tasty?" he asked her quite expectantly.

Mai looked sheepish and told him, "Well, you see, a while ago I kind have touched something that became apart of my body, it then changed my sense of taste, so I could now taste the feelings, thoughts and all other kinds of things that I taste. Ever since then, I couldn't really eat anything other than Noel's cooking since, you know, she puts a lot of care into her cooking."

Ragna simply nodded, "Okay, I get you on that last part, she really did put her all into it, even if it did look and taste like death." He agreed.

It was at this point Mai wanted to ask Ragna about why he kept eating Noel's cooking.

"If that's the case, why did you keep asking me to feed you more? You could have just given the rest to me." Mai said. Ragna closed his heterochronic eyes and began to explain himself.

"Hm… I'm not too sure really. Looking at Noel putting so much effort in her cooking and almost crying about not being good at it, kind of brought some weird sense of Déjà vu. For some reason, I didn't want to see her cry and all that other sensitive kinds of things." Ragna replied.

"Déjà vu? You mean this isn't the first time you did something like that?" Mai asked.

However, she immediately regretted asking when Ragna glared at her.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you! I didn't know it was a sensitive topic for you!" Mai tried to state her case.

Ragna lightened up, "Whatever, it's cool. Anyway, I'm much better now, I can walk now." He stood up and put his shoes on.

Mai smiled at him, "That's good! The girls and I wanted to introduce you to something later."

Ragna shrugged, "I don't see why not? I don't have a damn clue about what I should even be doing here." He admitted.

The two exited the first aid room, it was at this point Ragna asked, "So that thing you touched, it wouldn't have happened to be a Grimoire?" Ragna asked. Mai looked surprised and she had to ask him.

"What? I uh… what makes you think that?"

Ragna replied, "Well, for starters, I have been around Grimoires often enough to know that they attract bunch of seithr in some way. And you kind of give off that feeling, so I'm going to take a guess and say you merged with a Grimoire."

Mai was dumbfounded and shocked, "Wow, I mean, that's exactly right! I didn't think you would have figured it out so easily!"

Ragna looked a little miffed, "What? You thought I was that stupid?" he asked as if he was offended.

Mai flailed, "Wait! No! I didn't mean to…"

Ragna chuckled, "Hey, relax, I'm just kidding! Man, has anyone ever told you that you're easy to be around?"

Mai blinked, "What do you mean?" she asked. Ragna replied, "It's not so awkward talking with you. It's like I'm speaking with another guy. Not that there's anything wrong with that, its… I'm just saying."

Mai paled a bit, that hit a little too close to home, but to be honest with herself, hanging out with Ragna, even for just a short while, it brought out the inner guy she still longed to return to being and the feeling of being able to talk to another dude without them leering you was refreshing.

"W-Well I like to get along with others and try to be on equal grounds, you know?" Mai told him. Ragna accepted this.

For now, Mai was showing Ragna the way to her dorm, where her friends were waiting.

 **Mai's and Kajun's dorm**

During sleeping hours, Guys can never on any grounds, enter the female dormitories and vice versa. But, since it wasn't curfew yet, there were a couple of male students wondering about with either their girlfriends, or friends who happened to be girls.

Kajun was adding the finishing touches of her make-up whilst Tsubaki, Makoto and Noel were setting out batches of cookies and other sorts of cakes, with Noel's cookies being stored in a bag for Mai.

"So, are you sure about this? I mean, I thought our group was meant to be only girls?" Noel asked her friends.

"I know, but after seeing how nice he actually is, I figured maybe one guy wouldn't be so bad." Tsubaki reasoned.

Makoto nodded and exclaimed, "You betcha! Not only is that guy freakin' tough, he's not a racist or a jerk! He's already my type of guy!"

Noel nodded whilst blushing a bit, "I understand, I mean, even though he said my cooking was terrible, he still ate it, even when it made him sick. I want to thank him properly." She said.

Kajun then appeared out of nowhere behind Noel, "So, how are you planning on thanking Ragna? Are you going to give your body to him?" she jested making Noel turn beat red as well as Tsubaki. Makoto just let out a little snort to hide her laughter.

Noel screamed, "What!? No! Not like that! I just wanted to tell him how grateful I am for saying something so nice and… talk to him about something."

The girls blinked, Tsubaki asked, "And that would be?"

Noel explained, "When he touched my head and said those things about my cooking, it felt like he's done this for me before. But I'm sure I never met him before, yet, I feel like I've known him from somewhere, but I can't recall."

The girls were thinking about what Noel said, until Kajun theorised with her usual smile, "Well Noel, you did tell us how you don't remember your life before your parents adopted you. Maybe he does know you but thinks you may be a different person."

Noel looked up at her, then Tsubaki added to Kajun's theory, "That makes sense, after all, he did seem to space out when he first saw you."

The girls nodded, then Makoto shouted, "Alright! Let's make it our undercover mission for us to find out if Ragna knows Noel!"

The girls cheered in agreement.

Then someone unlocked the door. When it opened, Mai stepped in.

"Oh, hey Mai, how's the new student doing?" Kajun asked and the others warmly greeted her.

Mai nodded, "Hi girls! He's doing fine, in fact he's right behind me."

"Yo, what is it that you all want with me again?" he asked seemly annoyed.

Undeterred, Kajun told him, "Well, after the short time we spent welcoming you to our school, we wanted to official recognise you as a friend our ours."

Ragna blinked and scratched his head, "Come on, didn't you all tell me that earlier, or is there some kind of ritual that I never heard about?" he asked confused.

Makoto then patted a seat next to her.

"Hey Ragna, come and sit down next to me!" Makoto called him over.

"Well alright, let's get this over with." He said as he sat down and noticed Noel fidget next to him.

"Oh, hey Noel! I survived, the heck did you put in that curry anyway?" Ragna asked.

Noel flinched and turned red, "Um? I'm not too sure, I just throw in a bunch of ingredients hoping that I'd make the recipe better." She admitted. Ragna face faulted.

"Just follow the damn recipe next time okay. Takes things slow, and ease your way up, so maybe the next time you cook, I won't almost reach heaven." Ragna told her.

Noel nodded, a little ashamed and felt a little depressed.

"Ragna! How could you speak like that to her? Apologise now!" Tsubaki scolded him.

Ragna flinched, "Whoa okay! Scary… I didn't mean to come off like that, I'm not used to speaking to people. I meant to say that she should probably understand the recipe, so eventually, she'll know what's she's doing, I mean, I could still eat it so that means there's still hope for her."

Noel brightened up and the girls were taken back, that was possibly… the nicest way of saying her cooking was bad, but she'll improve.

"Okay, if you say so, now where were!?" Makoto clapped her hands.

All the girls besides Mai, had a twinkle in their eyes. Ragna looked quite scared at the moment and Mai was unsure of what to do.

"H-hey, hey! If you guys are planning to perform paranormal shit! I want out!" Ragna informed them.

The girls didn't listen instead, they revealed a huge banner and a bunch of cookies, not made by Noel of course.

On the Banner, it said what they all chanted in unison.

"Welcome Ragna! The first guy to be part of Remix Heart!" the girls chanted.

Ragna blinked, "Huh? Remix Heart? The hell is that?" he asked.

Makoto took the honours, "Oh! It's our name for our Girls-only group! We set it up to look for a cure for Mai's super taste!"

Ragna nodded, "Oh… yeah right, she did tell me about that. Wait! Girls-only group!? I'm a guy!" he remined them.

Noel reassured him, "D-Don't worry Ragna! You're officially the first guy who has ever been welcomed into Remix Heart!"

Kajun then told him, "Yes, you didn't seem to be the scary, cold-hearted person you act like, so we decided to invite you in."

Ragna then muttered, "Wait! Don't I get a say in this…? Actually… that's kinda cool. First guy what not."

Tsubaki then told him, "I'm glad you think so. I'm happy to know that I was right when I said we'd get along."

Mai then smiled at Ragna and her friends before saying, "Well, looks like we'll be hanging out together quite a lot then, right Ragna?"

Ragna grinned, "Urgh! What the hell, of course, I'm looking forward to spending time you all." He said.

They all cheered and began to dig into the cookies.

Whilst they were eating, Ragna had to ask, "So, you girls mentioned that you started to group to help your friend Mai out, right? How?"

Makoto then 'corrected' Ragna, "You mean 'our' friend Mai. Your our friend now too! Or did you just forget buddy?" she gave him a weird look.

Tsubaki scolded Makoto, "Makoto? Be nice."

Makoto told her she was just kidding.

Kajun then answered Ragna's question.

"Well, you see, there are a lot of undiscovered Grimoires right here in the Academy. With the Truth Grimoire being one of them. What we hope to find if the strongest Grimoire…"

Ragna froze when she said that.

"That would be?" he asked.

Kajun finished, "The Azure Grimoire. With that, we'd be able to help our friends in need, and most of all, cure Mai of her super taste."

Ragna thought about this, he wasn't too keen on people wanting the Azure Grimoire, but then he looked at Mai and remembered her words back when he first met her.

'I want to have the power to help my friends.'

Ragna told them, "Alright, I'll help you out!"

The girls all cheered again.

"Oh man! I knew you were a good guy!" Makoto then linked her arms with Ragna's right making him go on the defensive.

Makoto began to become tired, "Woah! I'm getting so sleepy."

Ragna threw Makoto off himself.

"Don't touch that!" Ragna shouted.

Makoto ended up falling on the ground. Noel and Tsubaki were already by her side.

"Makoto! Ragna! How could you?" Tsubaki questioned his harsh reaction.

Ragna had the decency to look a shamed, but told her, "Look, I'm sorry, but my right arm is kind of sensitive. I didn't mean to be so rough."

The whole room was silent for a while.

Ragna excused himself, "Anyway, thanks for accepting me as your friend, but I gotta go back to my room. I have a lot of things to catch up on." He told them as he left for his room in the Senior's dormitories.

As soon as they couldn't hear his footsteps, Noel had to say.

"Oh, what is his problem? All Makoto did was touch his arm."

Tsubaki was also wondering maybe her perception of Ragna's character was wrong, which she didn't want to admit.

But Makoto then saved face for Ragna, "No! It's okay, I shouldn't have been so touchy with him. After all we only just met him. Besides, I think he was trying to save me."

They girls looked confused, they asked how?

Kajun took point, "Well, for started, did you all hear Makoto say she was getting sleepy after she touch Ragna's right arm?"

They nodded until they realised it.

"Oh! Maybe he has something on him that makes touching him dangerous. But couldn't he have just told us about it?" Noel wondered.

Tsubaki shook her head, "Maybe it's something he doesn't like to talk about."

As the girls were talking, Mai was pondering about the sensation she felt when Ragna's arm touched Makoto.

'What was that feeling? It was like his arm was taking Makoto's life by force.' Mai wondered.

 **With Jin**

Jin had taken the day off because of a certain feeling that was building up in him.

Lately, he had been thinking about his 'dead' brother and Yukianesa had been giving him the same bloodlust that he felt whenever something about the Black Beast was nearby.

"What is this feeling? Why do I feel like destroying him? He's already dead? Oh, brother…" Jin said as he fell asleep dreaming about his life before being adopted by the Kisaragi family.

Flashback

Jin was ill, but he didn't want anyone to know that because he didn't want to be a bother to his brother Ragna and their little sister Saya who was out with the Sister for some wild vegetables and what not.

Jin and Ragna were playing 'Swords', Jin's movements were more sluggish than usual, normally, Jin would be winning only because Ragna was going easy on Jin. But Ragna felt something was off.

Suddenly Ragna disarmed Jin and dropped his wooden sword.

"Jin! You're sick! How come you didn't tell anyone!?" Ragna asked.

Jin looked away, "I-I-I didn't want to be a bother to anyone…"

"Stop it Jin! You are our brother! You don't bother anyone! So please, if you're sick, tell us! You have to tell me these things!" Ragna stressed in frantic worry as he gave Jin a piggyback towards the rooms.

Flashback end.

Jin fell asleep, "Bro….ther…."

 **With Ragna**

Ragna was now in his room laying in his bed.

So far, he was enjoying his first day of school and already made a few friends.

But meeting that Noel girl really threw him off.

"Noel… God damn, she's so much like her, her cooking too…" Ragna blanched at the memory.

However, his thoughts slowly drifted to Mai, she was the first one out of everyone in Torifune that he met. Now here he was, making friends with her in the place he least expected to.

He remembered her innocent intentions for what she had planned if she acquired the Azure Grimoire and couldn't help but smile.

"Mai… a weird girl, but she's pretty cool. I think I can help her and our friends too." Ragna smiled.

Ragna eventually began to fall asleep due to his upbringing with the Sister and Master Jubei.

He might as well sleep, the learning can come tomorrow.

Until he caught the scent of roses.

'Fuck.' Was all Ragna thought before he opened his eyes.

* * *

 **Omake: EAT SHIT!**

 **The black beast was on a rampage, somehow, the Black Beast was created without Ragna's body. Noel in her Mu form was fighting the beast alongside her brother Jin, her friends Makoto and Tsubaki in her Izayoi form. Hakumen was up in the air doing his work against the Black beast along with Jubei and Valkenhayn.**

 **Kagura Mutsuki was doing his best to fend off the beast himself, but the Black Knight may have met his match.**

 **"Damn, it's no use! That thing ain't going down no matter what we thought at it! Kokonoe! What the kell are we meant to do!?" Kagura asked panicked.**

 **Kokonoe responded, "Shut up! I don't have anything left to use against the Black Beast! It's over. Sorry to say that." before she cancelled the transmission.**

 **Everyone heard that, they were all about to give up until a certain red jacket man came about.**

 **"Well, I got something to say about that. Step aside, I got something that'll work against it."**

 **Everyone looked at Ragna with hopes and doubt.**

 **Hakumen scoffed, "We did all we could against the Black Beast, Dark One. What makes you so sure you can defeat it?"**

 **Ragna scratched his head, "Hey, shut up masked freak! I got something that'll help me."**

 **Ragna then stepped up close to the Black Beast, it's main head staring at Ragna head on. They both charged at each other whilst screaming.**

 **Then Ragna threw a plate of something that gave off a black, purple and green miasma. Noel managed to recognize it.**

 **"Wait! Isn't that my?" she wanted to ask but Ragna's shout put her voice aside.**

 **"EAT SHIT AND DIE!" Ragna shouted. The object that Ragna threw was swallowed by the Black Beast.**

 **It paused in it advance and began to scream in agony. It's body began to pulsate in an ugly manner and eventually, the Black Beast turned into crystallized seithr.**

 **Everyone cheered as Ragna had brought them victory, Hakumen went up to Ragna and questioned him, "Dark One. What did you do? How did you defeat the Beast?"**

 **Kagura came up next and asked, "Yeah man, what did you do? I saw you throw something into it's mouth. How?"**

 **Everyone around them wanted to know, but Noel floated closer towards Ragna.**

 **"Oh hey Noel baby. You're looking fine, how about we hang out somewhere, ay?" Kagura tried to hit on Noel, but was ignored.**

 **Noel then stopped in front of Ragna.**

 **"Ragna..." Noel asked. Ragna replied, "Yeah, what is it Say... I mean Noel."**

 **"That thing you threw... that was my cooking..." Noel said.**

 **Ragna nodded, "Yeah... so?"**

 **"You told the Beast, 'Eat shit and die', is my cooking that terrible?" she asked with venom slowly coating her words.**

 **Ragna began to sweat, "Uh! No! Well... yeah, I mean, goddamn it I didn't have a choice, we needed to save humanity!"**

 **Then another girl popped in, her hair was purple, done in a high ponytail with a yellow ribbon.**

 **"Oh you! You're that girl I met a while back, what's up?" Ragna asked.**

 **However, Mai muttered, "You stole my lunch... and threw it away... I won't forgive you." she said as she brandished her staff.**

 **Noel and Mai in unison charged at Ragna, "Take this you big jerk!"**

 **Ragna jumped out the way.**

 **"Whoa! Hey! Watch it! I didn't have a choice! Noel's cooking was the most powerful weapon I had! I didn't have a choice!" he screamed at the two girl continued catching him.**

 **"Get back here, Big Brother!" Noel yelled.**

 **Mai shouted, "My lunch! You theft!"**

 **Ragna in the distance yelled, "Just have Noel make you another one!". However, Mai replied.**

 **"You don't understand! Every dish that Noel makes is special, and you through that away you bastard!"**

 **Ragna shouted, "How does that logic make any sense!? and he dodged another one of their attacks.**

 **Everyone watching was either laughing or feeling bad for Ragna.**

 **Tsubaki and Makoto just agreed on one thing.**

 **"Ragna the Bloodedge does have a point. Noel's cooking was the only thing that could have stopped the Black Beast." Tsubaki agreed with Ragna for just this once.**

* * *

 **There the first chapter of my Ragna X Mai fanfiction. A lot went into it, but I'm happy with how it went. Sure, it could have been better, but oh well, I go along with the flow.**

 **Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed.**

 **Praise the Sun!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey Guys, this one came our quickly, not due to being rushed, but rather for the first time in all of my stories this series has a clear ending I have in mind.**

 **Most of the time, I start a story, but always has no direction which is what I realized as I was started making more series; I had great ideas and concepts, but no development or final drafts of the series.**

 **This one is different however, I actually have everything planned out and I do hope to finish this series at least.**

 **Also, I didn't realise how long I made this chapter! 26,732 words! That was 4 times the length I was expecting!**

* * *

 **Almegon: Finally! Someone on this site that understands that authors aren't manufacturing machines! And yes, I'll keep in mind not to rush this story. But I will warn everyone, this series will have goods and bad chapters, but what matters to me is that the story connects and flows to the ending I have in mind. And thanks for the suggestions, the Kokonoe one is actual one that I thought of. Thanks and good day to you!**

 **Anyway, other than that. Thanks for the review everyone! I never expected the first chapter to take off so well and I'm glad that people are liking my writing.**

 **As thanks, here's part two**

 **Praise the Sun!**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Reunion**

Ever had that one person in your life that would always come in at the worst possible moments, for instance; when you're changing clothes or in my case, trying to fall asleep. Well that was exactly what was happening right now.

In my case, I was not ready to deal with some more bullshit, especially after my first day of being forced to attend this damned school.

The smell of roses permeated throughout room 666 A.K.A Ragna's current mancave which was not a cave for once.

"Oh my, to already be seeking retirement from the day when the moon has yet cast it's brilliance over our heads. You truly are an uncivilised and unruly man." Rachel Alucard insulted Ragna who became enraged, much to her entertainment.

Ragna got up quickly and replied, "Damn it Bunny Leech! I don't have the patience to deal with you. I just did quite a bit today and I have an even bigger day tomorrow! So why don't you go and play with your stuffed toys?" Annoyance clearly shown throughout his entire being.

Nago spoke up offended, "Oh! Dear me! Madam Rachel, this lowly creature possesses no form of decency! Such rudeness towards one such as yourself baffles me, your Highness." He said in defence of Rachel.

Gii supported this, "Yeah! He's a big, rude and mean idiot Princess! OwOwOw!" Rachel began to pull on Gii's cheeks and struck Nago to be quiet.

Ragna inwardly felt happy seeing Rachel hit her stuffed companions.

'Hehehe! That's damn right you little bastards!' he thought.

Rachel finally replied, "Such a rude response, I only came to say hello, and this is the very first sentence you form against me? Besides, seeing you brings me a much greater form of entertainment than these two by my side. Is it naught that men like yourself desire women to see you as 'fun'?" Rachel smirked.

Ragna frowned and spat, "If it was any other girl, then I'd be okay with that. And by the way, you have got to be the biggest hypocrite for telling me about socialising, the very first thing you say to me is an insult to piss me off rather than saying 'Hi' like a normal person."

Rachel nodded whilst still smirking, "Touché Ragna, I see you have became quite adept at returning fire. Perhaps what little time you have spent at the Academy seems to have reignited the inner workings of whatever you call a brain." She told him.

Ragna scoffed, "Pfft! Yeah, yeah, I haven't even been here for a day, maybe you're just getting sloppy, maybe you need to go back to school Bunny Leech." He grinned. However, this earned him a look of disdain and Nago in his Umbrella form pointed at him.

"Woah! Whoa! Okay! Calm down Rabbit! I was just kidding!" Ragna held his hands up to surrender.

Rachel took a moment before allowing Gii and Nago to revert to their usual forms and return to her usual condescending demeanour.

"Now then, I shall say what I originally planned on telling you. Ragna… you must venture out into this Academy and find the many Grimoires that have yet to be uncovered." Rachel told him.

Ragna groaned whilst saying, "Okay… that's new, why would I ever need to do that? If I recall, you and my Master forced me into enrolling in this damn school to 'learn some common courtesy' I quote you Bunny Leech."

Rachel nodded, "I recall what I said, however, need I remind you that you are on Librarium grounds, and what they desire most…"

Ragna cut her off, but not in a rude way.

"Oh! I get it! The NOL wants every Grimoire in existence, so you want me to find them all and keep them away from the NOL, right?" Ragna awaited Rachel's clarification.

Rachel nodded with her usual smile, "You understand the gist of it, however, what I must tell you, I cannot exemplify enough, do not on any circumstances let anyone discover what you have in your possession…" she ended with no wittiness to her voice.

Ragna closed his eyes.

"My right arm… The Azure Grimoire… I don't see why anyone would want it so badly, I mean the stories and uses for this thing are all overblown! I mean, this shit doesn't even do half of what it's said to do, the so-called 'strongest Grimoire', heh, what a load of crap." Ragna muttered.

Rachel shook her head, "Oh Ragna… there is still so much about the Azure you don't understand… especially the power in your hands. Which reminds me, remember Jubei's words…"

Ragna spoke up, "I know… I heard it enough times that it's become a prayer for me… Don't ever mistake the power of the Azure Grimoire as my own." He recited his master's words.

How could he ever forget those words? Those were the first and last words his master tells him each day. One which Ragna was grateful for, thanks to that, he managed to keep the Grimoire in check, not quite control, but he managed.

Rachel then said, "Oh dear me! It almost slipped my mind, about those Grimoires you may come across, it might be worth mentioning that they may be of some benefit on your journey." She mentioned.

Ragna looked confused, "Huh? Like I can use them or something? But isn't that going to be a lot to carry around?"

Rachel smiled, "Oh Ragna, if only you used your mind a little then maybe you'd understand what I'm implying." She tittered

Ragna grew a tick mark, "Damn it Bunny Leech! Stop speaking so cryptically! Maybe then I'd get what you're saying!" he shouted.

Rachel smiled, "That is for you to find out. Now I bid you farewell. Be sure to enjoy your time in the Academy." She teleported back to her palace along with Gii and Nago.

Ragna began to think back on what he was meant to be doing. Learning Ars Magus is one thing, but his Master pretty much taught him most of what the Academy would probably never teach, well, maybe that light beam Armagus, but he was sure he had learnt that from Jubei a while back, he only wanted to see how the Academy teaches it, but the instructions were so impractical.

Which is why he ended up using the 'bright future' method Jubei had taught him and it was this advice he gave to that Mai girl he was partnered up with.

But more importantly, he was meant to be doing something in the Academy according to his master's and Rachel's instructions.

 _ **Sometime before enrolling in the Academy**_

 _Ragna was thrown down the chute of Torifune just a few days ago after trying to help some girl, who happened to be Mai, then he was met by his angry master, Jubei, a Cat Beastkin, a full cat that could talk._

 _He was meant to be searching for the source of the Azure energy on the lowest levels of Torifune on his own, but he ended up getting help from one of the students who happened to fall on the right spot._

 _Whilst he was training with Jubei, he was unfocused as usual nowadays, ever since he met that girl, he couldn't help but worry if she was okay… until he ended up not being okay himself._

 _A log ended up smashing his face in._

" _OW! Damn it master! Did you have to use that!? I could have died!" Ragna shouted._

 _Jubei scolded him, "Well yer should have been focusin' kid! That kind of slop yer were putting on would of have ya killed, you got that!?"_

 _Ragna got up and replied, "I know! I know! I'll do better this time, just watch!"_

 _Jubei got his sheathed blade ready, "Well yer better be ya little whippersnapper! Else nuffthin' will tell yer how bad ye'll be hurting for the week." Jubei warned._

 _Ragna and Jubei once again clashed, Ragna using his Grimoire as sparingly as possible, only using it to deflect Jubei's sword and land a possible hit._

 _However, Jubei managed to land a hit on Ragna once again, although, it was much lighter than usual._

 _Ragna fell on his ass once again._

" _Ouch! Alright! One more time!" Ragna demanded._

 _Jubei stopped him, "That's enough!"_

 _Ragna became silent and attentive at the sound of Jubei's voice._

" _Kid, ya got something on yer mind and don't cha even think about lying to me kid. Out there… ye'll get yerself killed if you're distracted." Jubei told him._

 _Ragna averted his gaze and clicked his touch in annoyance as his Master was spot on. Seeing no way to slip out of the situation, Ragna confessed his worry._

" _Alright Master, I'm stilled worried about that girl that helped me a few days ago, there! You happy!?" Ragna admitted._

 _Jubei closed his eyes and nodded before telling him._

" _Ragna… There ain't nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to protecting someone, however, yer be doing better to know that Academy students ain't no pushovers themselves I tell ya. So, stop stressing over about something that little." Jubei advised Ragna._

 _Ragna then rubbed his forehead, "I know, I know! I get it Master! But like you told many times… if I can't save one person, then how am I meant to save any?" he reminded Jubei._

 _Jubei sighed and replied, "Just clear ya head kid… Do that, then maybe we'll continue training so ya'll be able to do that."_

 _Ragna frowned but agreed as he opted to just sit down._

 _Then the smell of roses hit his nose and a rather elegant voice that he has long associated with the word 'annoying' filled his ears._

" _I concur with Mr. Jubei, Ragna… you pitiful, little disgusting ruffian, clear your mind of all indecencies at once." Rachel insulted Ragna out of nowhere._

 _Jubei almost jumped out of his fur._

" _Geezuz! Rachel! Ya gotta stop doing that! I almost got scared all the damn way to heaven!" Jubei told Rachel._

 _Rachel bowed curtly and apologised, "My sincere apologies Master Jubei, how do you do?" she greeted._

 _Jubei replied, "Well, I'm doing a lil better than before, that's for sure!" he joked._

 _Ragna on the other hand, wasn't taking any of Rachel's blasphemy and spoke up._

" _What the hell Bunny Leech!? Just where do you get off on saying that I have dirty thoughts!?" Ragna questioned._

 _Rachel returned her attention to Ragna, "I know what a simpleton such as you has been thinking… I believe you were taking discreate peeks under that young girl's skirt." Rachel accused with venom and was that jealously? Ragna didn't see it._

 _Ragna looked baffled and flailed, "W-What!? I did not!"_

 _Jubei smirked at Ragna, "Is that why ye were distracted kid? Guess I gotta teach ya some manner." He teased Ragna._

 _Ragna tried to cover for himself._

" _I wasn't looking under her skirt! I was taking shots at her bo…" Ragna almost slipped up, but it was too late._

 _Rachel's smile grew sinister, "Oh, I see… So, I was correct in assuming you were peeping on that young girl… Such a sad little creature that cannot control it's urges." Rachel told him._

 _Ragna's face was red with both embarrassment and anger._

 _Jubei sighed, "Oh boy, kid, ya got a whole lot to learn about girls. And here I thought the Sister taught ya some respect towards women?" he said._

 _Ragna looked a little ashamed, but had to argue, "Alright! Stop ganging on up on me, but seriously, it's impossible not to stare… I mean a pretty girl falling from up top like an angel from heaven like in one of the Sister's books doesn't happen all the time."_

 _Rachels stuffed companions then spoke up, "Oh! What an inconceivable little creature, for not understanding the beauty which is, her Highness!" Nago questioned Ragna's taste in girls._

 _Gii supported Nago, "Yeah! Ragna's a big, dumb, idiot for finding girls other than Princess pretty!"_

 _Ragna didn't have anymore capacity for bullshit and smacked the stuffed animals to shut them up._

" _Shut up you stuffed toys! The kind of girls I like ain't none of your business and you can't force me to find Bunny Leech pretty." Ragna stated, then he was hard pressed to dodge a lightning strike directed towards him._

 _Rachel gave Ragna a somewhat chilling smile, "What was that Ragna? Do you not find mine canvas appealing? She asked._

 _Ragna began to sweat and took a deep breath._

" _Alright, alright… chill out. You are kinda cute bunny leech if I'm being honest, but to put it as nice as I can… you're not my type, nothing about you is bad… appearance-wise, but you know? I'm not into little girls…" Ragna reasoned._

 _Nago and Gii gasped at Ragna's declaration._

" _How dare a plebeian like you call Her Highness a 'little girl'!" Nago cursed Ragna._

 _Gii then added, "Yeah, you spikey doo-doo head! Princess is way older than anyone… OW!" he could finish as he was stretched further than before._

" _You shan't say anything about my age." Rachel scolded Gii._

" _Oh weee, I'm sorry Princess… I was only telling the tru… OUCH!" Gii was smacked again._

 _Ragna was filled with a strange sadistic glee at watching one of Rachel's toys get what they deserved._

 _After a few minutes of Rachel relieving whatever frustrations she had on Gii's cheeks, she resumed carrying on her original intents for Ragna._

" _Well, it appears I may have gotten quite off-track. Now then, I have an important order for you Ragna." Rachel said._

 _Ragna blinked and listened carefully, it wasn't often that Rachel had orders like now. Most of the time, they threw insults like no tomorrow._

" _Okay, that's rare, what do you have for me Rachel?" Ragna asked without any of his usual crude manners._

 _Rachel began, "Well, to start, you have come a long way from where you once were during your training with Jubei. Salutations to you for being able to teach this ill-mannered fool." She insulted earning a smile and a nod from Jubei, whilst Ragna frowned._

 _Rachel cut Ragna off from saying anything by continuing her speech._

" _However, regardless of how capable a teacher Jubei is… I am afraid to say that there are some things that even he cannot teach you." Rachel informed._

 _Ragna looked confused and Jubei nodded whilst saying, "Yep, I know what you mean Rachel… And it was a huge mistake on my part…"_

 _Rachel consoled him, "You have nothing to blame yourself for Jubei, the fault as much as I hate to admit it, rather lies with my lack of perception."_

 _Ragna took this opportunity to say something, "Wow! I never thought I'd see the day that Bunny Leech would admit that she's wrong…"_

 _Rachel gave him a cold glare, "Silence!" which shut him up for good._

 _Rachel continued, "As I was saying, the one thing that neither of us can teach you is the ways of the world beyond."_

 _Ragna looked confused, "How? I mean, Jubei taught me how to hunt, how to fight, use Ars Magus, how to take care of myself with barely anything and a whole bunch of stuff. I don't get how he didn't teach me the 'ways of the world beyond'." He questioned._

" _Well Ragna, as capable of a brute you may be, can you honestly tell yourself that you would be able to return to a normal, living and working society once you have finished your training?" she asked him._

 _Ragna replied, "Well… I could give bounty hunting a try and ah…? Well shit… you have a point." He admitted begrudgingly._

 _Then Jubei took point, "That's right kid, I'll be honest, you're a real good fighter I tell ya that now… perhaps even one of the best. However, in this day and age, being able to fight and live in the wilderness ain't gonna get ya nowhere." He told him._

 _Ragna lashed out, "So you're saying that all I learnt from you will be useless!? Then, how am I meant to take on the NOL and Terumi…"_

" _I ain't done talkin' yet! Listen up! I didn't mean to say all I taught you will be useless, in fact, you could probably take on an entire branch of the NOL. But, let's say you succeed in taking down Terumi… then what? Where are you gonna go? What are you gonna do? Settle down and have a normal life? That ain't gonna be possible with what I'm teaching you kid."_

 _Ragna scratched his head and replied, "I get it, I'm not that stupid Master… After I get Terumi back for what he did… then I'll probably… try to find a job or something…"_

 _Ragna then caught the blank stares of Jubei, Rachel, Gii and Nago._

 _Ragna then admitted defeat, "Okay! I don't know what I'll do! I'd probably just be on the run for the rest of my life! Is that right!?"_

 _Rachel then applauded him, "Congratulations Ragna, it seems like you can come to plausible conclusions."_

 _Ragna looked miffed, then Jubei went on to finish what he was saying._

" _That's right kid, I can't teach you how to get back into society. I mean just look at me… one of the so-called 'Six Heroes' from the Dark War, and I don't know nothing about getting a job, a loan, or whatever kinda shit they got going these days. Face it kid, no one's perfect, ya hear me?" Jubei told him._

 _Ragna took a few minutes to take it all in. It was like a huge Tsunami had crashed into him and washed him ashore upon some island that he couldn't navigate himself around._

 _For the first time in years… he felt… lost…_

 _Ragna let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. This was all so sudden and not to mention, nerve-wracking._

" _Alright, then what do you all want me to do?" Ragna asked all of them in no particular order._

 _Rachel smirked and had a gleam in her eyes._

" _Well, Ragna, the best place to send one's rowdy, ill-mannered and low-tempered children to…"_

 _Ragna shouted, "Just spit it out already Bunny Leech!"_

 _Rachel continued, "Well now, impatient as always, nevermind that, anyhow, the best place for uneducated people like yourself, is none other than a school." She finished with silence filling the void._

 _Ragna blinked a few times before saying, "Uh? School? Yeah… how about no?"_

 _Jubei then told him, "Look kid, you don't have a choice, we're sending you to school."_

 _Ragna finally exploded, "You too Master!? Come on… I have never been to a school in my life and now you want me to just go to one out of nowhere?" he questioned their sanity._

 _Jubei then explained, "Kid, no matter how time changes, school will forever be one of the best places to learn everything you need. Hell, it may even help ya in your journey to beat down Terumi."_

 _Ragna looked sceptical, "How's that? Am I going to read him to death?" he said._

 _Jubei then closed his eyes and began to say._

" _Put it this way… if you were to get back at Terumi, there are many ways to do it, one would be the way you'd probably do it, charge right in and give it your all. Or, you could learn to fit in with society and learn all you can to outsmart him, maybe even make a few friends who would help yer." Jubei suggested._

 _Ragna then looked deep in thought, he would have honestly just charged in and try to take Terumi on head first. But knowing that going to school could help him with more than just fitting in with society but help him make comrades and out smart Terumi. Well, as much as he hated to depend on others, he could see the benefits of going to a school._

 _Ragna sighed, "Oh, alright! I'll go to whatever school you have in mind for me. Where do you what me to get into, Bunny Leech?"_

 _Rachel replied, "The NOL Academy city, Torifune." As if it was the simplest thing in the world._

 _Ragna's jaw was on the ground, "The NOL Academy… Are you serious!? You want me to get into the place that teaches the organisation who happens to have the one guy I really want to punch in the face? Not to mention, do you realise how hard it is to even get in?" he questioned Rachel's logic._

 _Rachel smiled, "I'm well-aware of the difficulties of entering the Academy. However, as uneducated as you are, I'm sure you'll be able to get in." she told him._

 _Ragna scratched his head in frustration, "For real… I mean, let's say I do get in… wouldn't I be tipping Terumi off about the fact I'm still alive?"_

 _Jubei intervened, "You got nothing to worry about kid! Knowing that sonofabitch, he'd be too focused on the cauldrons and the boundary. And about yer studies… well, I know the Sister would have taught you and your siblings a thing or two, right?" he finished._

 _Ragna looked sheepish, "Well, I uhh… kinda don't remember, not to mention all our notes were burnt to a crisp." He admitted._

 _Rachel than brought some books out of nowhere, "You have naught for worry Ragna. I secured them for safe-keeping until I saw use for it." Rachel told him._

 _Ragna looked flabbergasted, "Y-you mean you had them this whole time? Why!?"_

 _Rachel replied, "As I said, for safe keeping. Now I see that they can be used again for this purpose."_

 _Ragna asked, "And that would be…?"_

 _Rachel smirked, "Studying."_

 _Ragna turned pale, "Oh give me a break! I hate studying! Please tell me there's an alternative?"_

 _Jubei and Rachel shook their heads._

 _Ragna was about to say something, until he was forced to catch his old notebooks from when the Sister used to teach him and his siblings._

 _Rachel excused herself, "Now excuse me, but Valkenhayn has most likely finished preparing my tea. I bid you two farewell."_

 _She warped back to her mansion._

 _Ragna looked at the spot that Rachel was in for a few minutes until Jubei walked up to him._

" _Well, kid, it looks like you've got your work cut out for yourself. Now, let's get busy." Jubei told him._

 _Ragna replied, "Do you know how long it's been since I last read a book? How am I going to get through all this crap?"_

 _Jubei then gave Ragna a smirk, "Well kid, why don't cha think about that girl's boobs you said you were staring at? That's good motivation!" he teased._

 _Ragna blushed, "H-Hey, shut up Master! I only looked a few times!" he attempted to justify his actions._

 _Jubei then became all nostalgic as he said, "Yer definitely my pupil, taking after yer Master. You know, my wife had quite a pair too! I remember the first time she let me between her goodies!"_

 _Ragna turned blue, "I don't want to hear how two overgrown cats got it on! I'm not a fricking furry!"_

 _Jubei then told him, "Who said my wife was a cat? She was a human, a dime piece I tell ya!"_

 _Ragna replied lowly, "Oh! So, she was a furry, that's great and please stop telling me this!"_

 _For the rest of that night, Ragna was forced to listen to Jubei talking about how proud he was of Ragna for having the same taste as him._

 _After 2 weeks of studying, Ragna was forced to study along with his training with Jubei, with Rachel popping in a few times every now and then._

 _Then finally, Ragna had attempted the NOL Academy entrance exam and managed to secure his enrolment out of all the hundreds of applicants. He was the only student who passed the test, surprising both himself and his Master, with flying colours._

" _Well, I didn't think yer had it in ya to pass, especially not with that high a number." Jubei commented._

 _Ragna blew his lips, "Pfft! Please, just because I hate studying doesn't mean I suck at it. Besides, the test wasn't even that hard, I mean, maths is simple enough, what the Dark war is and seithr and all that!" he recapped the test._

 _Jubei nodded, "Well, be proud of yerself kid! I sure am! And if the Sister were here too, then she'd be happy for you too."_

 _Ragna simmered down and nodded._

" _Yeah, she would…" he said as he recalled the Sister._

 _As they were remembering the Sister, Rachel appeared and gave him her congratulations._

" _How surprising Ragna, you performed better than I have ever expected… I may have been wrong to say you were uneducated." Rachel told him._

 _Ragna then replied, "Yeah, that's right Bunny Leech! I told you I wasn't stupid."_

 _Rachel then told him, "I can now finally agree with you on that. Now, when you enter the Academy, there is more you can get out of it than you realise. Something to do with the Azure Grimoire in your possession."_

 _Ragna paid attention to this, "Huh? That's new, anything else you want to tell me about that?"_

 _Rachel replied, "That's for you to figure out."_

 _Ragna turned his head away in annoyance._

" _Okay then, don't tell me! I'll be on my way to the station now." Ragna told them as he began to walk towards Akitsu._

 _Jubei called out to him, "Just a sec Ragna! I got something for you."_

 _Ragna turned back, "Something for me? Alright Master, what do you got?"_

 _Jubei then brought forth a basket full of black clothes, each of them being 5 pairs of the black, silver-metal-tipped shoes that Ragna was wearing, another 5 pairs of Ragna's black Hakama, the same amount of black and red undershirts and finally, a black long-sleeve button-up uniform shirt._

 _Ragna looked at these, "Clothes? Well, I can't say I didn't need some, so thanks Master. But they'd probably give me some other uniform to wear."_

 _Jubei then told him, "Yeah, I know, but the Sister would have wanted you to have this."_

 _Ragna paid close attention to Jubei at this point._

 _Jubei continued, "Back in her day, when she was a student like yer going to be now, this was the male's school uniform of the old Mage Academy back then, of course, they usually gave out a black cape, not a shirt, but for combat types, this was the preferred uniform. Knowing her, she'd be happy to see you going to school in this."_

 _Ragna looked at the clothes with a rather unusual fondness._

 _Jubei then took this time to also tell him, "Also, remember Ragna, when you're going to the Academy, your name is Ragna Mitsuyoshi, that last name you're gonna be using was the name I once went by…" Jubei told him._

 _Ragna nodded and shrugged, "Alright, I'll keep that in mind, I mean, I needed a last name anyway."_

 _He took a deep breath._

" _Okay… I'll take good care of these clothes and wait... Old Mage Academy? Wasn't that way before the Black Beast arrived? How old was the Sister?" Ragna asked._

 _Jubei answered, "A lot older than she looked, that's all you'll get out of me. Now scurry along will ya! Don't wanna be late for your first day."_

 _Ragna shot up and began to make a beeline for Akitsu's railway station._

 _Unbeknownst to him, Jubei was looking at Ragna from a distance._

" _Celica… you'd be so proud of how well he's grown up…" he said quietly._

 _Rachel asked, "Feeling sentimental, are we? I don't blame you, he was like the son you never had…"_

 _Jubei sobered up, "Well, yeah! I mean, I couldn't even take care of my own kid. So, I guess taking Ragna under my paws was like a second chance for me, ya know?"_

 _Rachel nodded, "I see, I do hope you do well. Farewell, until we meet again." She teleported back to her mansion._

 _Jubei snorted, "You make it sound like we're not going to see each other for a while Rachel…"_

 _After a few minutes, Jubei headed off towards the forest… he had a certain Kaka to meet up with._

 _Flashback end_

Ragna took a seat at his personal study desk whilst thinking about his task of finding the other Grimoires in the school. Honestly, he didn't know where to start and the only thing that he had going for him was the fact he could feel the presence of a Grimoire. Then, he remembered the friends he made earlier.

'Oh yeah, the girls earlier told me that their group uh… Remix Heart, was looking for Grimoires. Maybe they can help me." Ragna thought.

He groaned after thinking that… he knew he'd have some explaining to do for what he did to Makoto and that he'd have to make some stuff up to hide the fact that the thing they were searching for was his right arm. Which he held up to observe it for a few minutes.

How can he crush the girls' hopes for the Azure Grimoire? They were so determined to get it to fix Mai's super taste problem that even he himself wanted to help. But knowing for himself that his Azure Grimoire didn't do any of what the girls were hoping for made him feel concerns for their drive.

He shook his head, he'd do something when the time comes. Right now, he had to review his schedule again as the rest of his days at school wouldn't be as laxed as his first.

"Let's see… my timetable says, hm… most of my classes are not finalised yet. Well they did tell me that I had to do some other test tomorrow to find we classes suit me. Okay, looks like the first thing in the morning for me is to get scanned before going to my Armagus class… alright, time to call it a night." Ragna skimmed through his timetable before flopping himself onto the soft bed.

 **The next day, 6:30am**

Going by his habit, Ragna woke up way too early but he preferred some extra time in the day. He'd get more things done and other kinds of stuff. Like going to the Cafeteria first thing in the morning, after what Noel served him, he at least deserved a good decent breakfast.

Yep, didn't bother to wash up or anything, and he was still wearing the same clothes from yesterday, but he reasoned he could wash up after he ate.

As he was making his way towards the Cafeteria, he saw maybe one or two people walking around every now and then which surprised him. But they looked groggy, so they didn't register his presence, well neither did he, the sooner he got some good food in his stomach, the better.

After about ten or so minutes, he finally arrived at the cafeteria, he noticed two guys sitting together, one had Auburn hair, the other had black hair who was also munching on a lot of food… a box of donuts? Ragna shrugged and walked towards the food stalls to get himself some of whatever was available.

They had the usual assortments of cereal and choices of milk (Dairy, Almond, Soy and Coconut), the scrambled eggs and Bacon, which he immediately grabbed some of that, some bread, sliced, or as rolls, he took the slices as he was going to toast them.

Then he found some fruits, which he grabbed an apple, pink lady of course.

There was also some other stuff like fried rice, but the curried one got his attention. Ragna took a small bowl of that to mix with his scrambled eggs.

Then, he got himself a glass of water and a carton of milk.

Now he was set to eat, all he needed to do was find a table to which there were plenty of empty seats.

However, as soon as he was about to sit to the nearest table, the two guys he saw from earlier called out to him.

"Hey you! Guy with the white hair! Sit with us!" the shorter guy with the Auburn hair called over.

Ragna glanced over and frowned a bit. Then the other guy who was eating donuts gulped down his food and playfully waved him over.

"Hey new guy! Don't be shy~ Eat with us!" the guy with black hair said.

Ragna shifted his feet a bit before making his way towards the seat adjacent to theirs.

As Ragna placed his food tray down, he looked up and started the conversation.

"Hey guys, nice to meet you… uh…?" Ragna drew on realising he get their names first.

The Auburn-haired guy began, "Excuse me, I'm Akane Teruhiko! But you can me Akane. This big idiot next to me is Taro Sasagae, you'll know him since he'll always have his mouth full.

Taro whined, "Wha!? Come on, let me introduce myself~ Why does everyone have to be so mean to me? Anyway, don't listen to him, I'm someone you can always ask if you have trouble, just don't be shy." He ended with a childlike aura.

Akane snorted at that last part, "Yeah right, if you're not distracted that is…"

Taro sighed, "Come on… I don't get distracted that easily…" he said.

Ragna blinked at them before saying, "Okay… Well, nice to meet you too, Akane and Taro… well I guess it's my turn, I'm Ragna… Mitsuyoshi but just call me Ragna."

Akane smiled whilst Taro grinned widely, they both extended their hands wanting to shake his own.

Ragna then handed out his left hand to shake theirs. Now that they knew each other's names, it was time to start asking them some stuff.

"So anyway, why'd you guys call me over? I'm not exactly someone you would have known before…" Ragna tried to say but Akane cut him off.

Akane said, "Dude, everyone like, knows who you are, a lot of people saw how you ripped Kazaki a new one!"

Taro nodded, "Yeah, yeah! I was there too! You're really strong, I mean, the way you broke that guy's sword was epic!"

Ragna began to feel a little nervous and tried to play it cool.

"Oh that, it was nothing… besides, he couldn't have been that good, right?" Ragna tried to downplay his earlier fight.

Taro then placed a hand on his shoulder, lucky for Taro, his shoulder was still 'him'.

"Hey, hey~ Don't try and act humble! You're a tough guy! Be proud of that! The only people who could take Kazaki on were people like Jinny!" Taro informed Ragna.

Ragna froze, "Um… who's Jinny?" he asked.

Akane then told him, "Oh, he means Jin Kisaragi of the Student Council, he's one of the best students in the Academy."

Then Taro nodded his head like a little kid, "Yeah! Not only that, he acts all cool, but if you look closely, you can see him twitch a bit and even hold back a laugh! Haha! Heck, the only time he's human is when Tsubaki's involved." He jested.

Akane laughed as well, "Oh, that sexy redhead chick that Jin talks about sometimes? Yep! I'd see why he'd talk about her, she's a hottie! I remember that one-time Jin actually glared at me for checking her out!" he said.

The two guys shared a big laugh, whilst Ragna was thinking about Jin.

'I forgot that little shit went to this school. Hmm? These guys are Jin's friends? They don't seem like bad people… at least Jin's got some good friends…' Ragna thought with hope for his little brother.

However, Ragna quickly snapped out of his thoughts and said, "Redhead? Tsubaki? Do you mean that chick whose friends with those other girls, you know, Squirrel? Blondie? Princess and Ribbons?" he asked.

Taro confirmed it, "Yeah, that's her! So, you already know her?" he asked. Ragna nodded.

"Yeah… she showed me around the school yesterday, then one of her friends wearing ribbons introduced me to her and the rest of her friends. I think her name was Mai? Yeah." Ragna told them.

Taro and Akane began to get really interested in Ragna's story.

"And?" They both edged Ragna on.

"They kinda of introduced me to some group of their after… lunch. I don't know, some group called 'Remix Heart' or something like that?" Ragna told them.

Akane and Taro had their jaws wide open.

Akane chuckled, "Oh Hoho! Man, you're one lucky bastard." He told Ragna.

Taro gave Ragna the thumbs up, "Wow~ I'm so jealous of you man! First day and they already accept you as their friend." He said.

Ragna blinked, "Why? What's there to admire about that?"

Taro and Akane spoke up, "Are you kidding me? Who wouldn't want to be friends with them?" Akane exclaimed.

Taro nodded, "A group of cute girls always on adventures! They accepted you into their girls only group, who wouldn't want to be in your place? To be surrounded by a bunch of cute girls everyday~" he said

Ragna had a faint blush on his cheeks and replied, "Well… that's not wrong! They are kinda pretty… but yeah, they seemed pretty cool to me, so I'll roll with them."

Akane and Taro nodded, they gave their respect and their friendship to Ragna.

"Well, Ragna, you're a pretty decent guy, if you need anyone to talk to about guy and girl problems, come see me!" Taro offered.

Akane snorted again, "Like you'd have any good advice on girls! I mean, what kinda girl would like you?"

Taro whined, "Eeh! Come on! A girl will like me! You agree with me right Ragna?" he asked him for support.

Ragna bluntly replied, "Well, I only just met you, so I can't say for sure… but, good luck finding one who can put up with you."

Taro just looked like a happy puppy, "I'm not sure if I should be happy or upset, but thanks Ragna! Jinny would like you!"

Ragna blinked and had to ask.

"So um… where is Jin by the way? Is he not hungry?"

Akane replied, "Nah! Nothing like that, he just hasn't been feeling well recently, he's in the infirmary right now, we're meant to be bringing him some breakfast when he wakes up."

Taro continued, "Yep! And I got a bag full of good stuff here all for him! He'll get better in no time once I make something out of this!"

Akane then put his arm on Taro, "And I'm here to make sure this guy doesn't eat it."

Taro protested, "Hey! I already had my fill! And I even got myself something on the go just in case I get hungry again."

Ragna smiled at the two, these two sure just made his morning less shitty.

"Well anyway, thanks you guys, guess it's true when they say food taste better with company."

They told him that he was welcome.

Ragna then asked for one last time, "Hey guys, you know where they scan you before putting you into certain classes, you know where I can find it?"

Taro then brightened up, "Oh, just go towards the elevator, take it to the 4th level, then go left and there'll be a giant door that has the word 'Gymnasium' on it, you can't miss it." He answered.

Ragna nodded, "Right… Thanks again, see you two later."

Akane and Taro waved, "Laters!"

 **The Gym Room**

The gym room was empty, save for a few hanging ropes, workout bars, boxes of balls and others equipment.

In a separate room, Estella McKenzie was tapping her finger on a board whilst speaking with someone.

"Yes, affirmative, the signs of the Azure are stronger than ever within the school grounds… Yes, we'll get to the bottom of this soon." She said into her phone before switching to standby.

At the moment, she was in charge of taking care of the Magic Formula assessment for the new student, Ragna. She was going to have fun messing with him.

Then, she heard the door to the gym open and saw who she was expecting.

"Well, well, well, looks like you finally show up on time." McKenzie said.

Ragna scowled, "You! I was only late once! I didn't even know my time table, if I even have a one that is… What the heck do you want woman?"

McKenzie glared, "Woman? How did you befriend the detectives of pretty girls? Anyway, my name's Estella McKenzie, most people know me as Emma, so call me that instead of woman, boy…"

Ragna blew her off, "Okay, whatever, Emma, I'm just here for that Ars Magus scanning thing… so are you the one in charge of that? He asked.

Emma nodded, "Yes, that is correct, I'm the one responsible for checking which subjects suit you best which is why your time table yesterday was a mess. Now that you're here, I'm gonna need you to do a few things."

Ragna looked at her annoyed, "Just get to the point already!"

Emma narrowed her eyes before smirking, "You're eager… okay then, I'm going to need you to take off your clothes." She said without any apparent embarrassment, or shame.

Ragna blinked a few times before coming out with, "Huh?"

Emma smirked again, "You heard me, strip down now!" she ordered him.

Ragna turned beet red, "Y-Yeah… I'm just gonna… well… no! Why do I have to do that!?" she questioned Emma.

Emma informed him, "The scan only works at optimal levels when the one being scanned doesn't have clothes on. So you don't really have a choice."

Ragna inched away quickly, "Hell no! There's gotta be some alternative! I ain't doing that shit naked!" he shouted.

Emma glared at him, "Language boy… and don't worry about anyone seeing it, no one is even awake at this time besides you and me of course."

Ragna told her, "I just saw a few others awake as well, two of which I just spoke with. Besides, you'll see me naked!"

Emma replied, "That's not an issue, I've seen other boys naked, for now, take all your clothes off."

Ragna turned a little pink, "Just a quick question… don't you get flustered from seeing other guys with no clothes on?" he questioned Emma's psyche.

Emma shook her head, "I'm not into boys…"

Ragna blinked, "Okay, that was for some reason, something I expected…"

Emma then taunted him, "I'm into real men, which I doubt you are since you don't have the courage to strip down."

Ragna looked red in humiliation and embarrassment.

"Hey! I am a real man! Even real men have some fears!" Ragna shot back.

Emma still not breaking her professional front, responded, "Not the ones I've known… Now get to stripping, you 'little' boy."

Ragna scrowled, "Argh… Okay! Okay! I'll do it, just get it done and over with!" he shouted.

Emma nodded. Oh… she loved putting tough guys in their places.

Ragna then slowly took his shirt off, followed by his Hakama, now he only had his red 'n' black undershirt and his black boxers.

Ragna then slid his singlet off revealing his unusually shredded torso, not bulky, but very lean and vascular, almost to the point that it was unhealthy to be that lean if his clearly visible eight-pack didn't do the talking.

Emma blinked, this was not something she was expecting from an Academy student, getting to that point would have taken a solid three to five years of intense strength and athletic training on her level.

Then Ragna reached for his boxers, preparing himself for the moment of truth.

Ragna took a deep breath to lose all his embarrassment.

"*Breath* My body is ready…" Ragna told himself before pulling his boxers down.

Emma blinked a few times before even she had an apparent shade of pink dusting her cheeks.

"Hmm… now I see why they took a liking to you…" she mused.

Ragna looked pink, "Alright now hurry with the scan! It's getting fricking cold!" he told her.

Emma collected herself, "Um… right! Please proceed to stand on the platform."

Ragna did just that, then Emma said some sort of enchant before a bright light enveloped Ragna.

As the results were compiling, Emma read, "Amazing… extremely high physical ability on par with Makoto, Ars Level, just a tad bit below Jin, but his seithr capacity is unrivalled… and…" however, before more could be acquired, the grimoire that was scanning Ragna exploded.

Emma took a step back, 'Again! The same thing happened with Mai's scan… could he be just like Mai? A human merged with a Grimoire?'

Ragna blinked, "So um… is that meant to happen, or did it screw itself over?"

Emma took a bit of time before answering, "Well… I managed to get your essential information, but not everything, but that's okay. I can still assign you your classes now. Also, just to add, you're studying ability is just a tad bit worrying, even though you are good at learning, you dread studying, don't you?"

Ragna shrugged it off.

Ragna let out a sigh of relief, "Finally! Can I get dressed now!?" he asked eager to get back into his clothes.

Emma nodded, "Yes you may. We're all done, and it looks like your first-class today is going to be Combat Arts… so make sure to come back here at 9:30."

Ragna finished dressing himself up, "Alright, thanks for letting me know that. Well seeya Emma."

Emma nodded, "I'll see you around Ragna."

Then Ragna stepped out of the Gym, leaving Emma to contemplate.

'He short circuited the scanner even worst than Mai! Could he be…? No, it's too soon to point fingers, but we'll put him under observation." She noted.

 **In the Girls' Dormitories**

Within one of these dormitories, Mai was snuggling into her bed not wanting to wake up, however, her roommate wouldn't have that.

Kajun said, "Mai, it's time to wake up~" she said as she opened the curtains on her.

Mai then turned away from the light.

"Just a few more, Uwauh! Minutes~" she told Kajun.

Kajun sighed, "It's not healthy for a lady to be sleeping so much. After all, there's something called too much beauty sleep." She informed Mai.

Mai just snuggled into her bed a bit more.

Kajun began thinking of a way to wake her up. Then her eyes sparkled. She leaped into Mai's bed and began fondling Mai's massive breasts.

Mai's eyes went wide open.

"Uwah! K-Kajun! S-s-stop that! It tickles- mmnn!" Mai tried to resist but couldn't stop the moans coming out.

Mai tried to kick her off, but Kajun locked one of Mai's long legs with her own. They were both in a rather suggestive position.

"Oh~ calm down Mai~ You're still tired because you've been carrying these things around! So, let me help you with a full body massage!" Kajun told her as she squeezed Mai's jugs a little harder earning her a squeal.

Mai's face looked mortified as she felt Kajun's soft body against her back. Mai was admiring how wonderful Kajun felt against her own body but collected herself.

"K-Kajun! Please stop! I'm awake, I'm awake!" she pleaded.

Kajun then stopped much to her relief, but not before she whispered into the pinned girl's ear.

"Okay, now we can take a bath together~ I'll be sure to give these a deeep~ wash~" as she fondled Mai's boobs one last time.

Mai's face burned, and she finally shook Kajun off.

"I-I-I'll clean myself, thank you!" Mai shouted before grabbing her uniform, then jumping into the bathroom.

Kajun chuckled to herself.

"Oh Mai… you're a shy one aren't you." Kajun said as she wrote in her notepad.

 **In the dorm shower**

Mai quickly turned on the hot water before hopping in the bath tub.

"Ahh~ Nothing beats a nice hot shower before starting the day…" Mai told herself before pulling back her long luscious blue hair.

Then she got a few squirts of shampoo in her hands, which she rubbed together, then ran her soapy hands through her hair, beginning at the top of her hair and ran her hands down to reach the part passed her shoulders.

Then she put her arms behind her back, jutting her bare, wet chest out and her hands in the optimal position to wipe the rest of the shampoo through the ends of her hair, which was clinging to her lower back and her shapely, round posterior.

Mai found herself getting a little bit too into her clean up, that before she knew it, she was caressing the soft, sensitive flesh through the ends of her hair. She moaned a little bit.

'Maybe if I squeeze like that…' Mai thought before her eyes shot wide open.

'What am I doing!? Was I really enjoying that!? No… this is bad…' Mai thought to herself before looking down to contemplate.

However, instead, she was met with the sight of her own breast covered in suds.

Mai blushed a bit, even if it was herself, being a former guy, she knew that she was pretty.

Then she reasoned, 'Just a little touch won't hurt, right?'

She then began to clean her chest, she felt the sensation that she did earlier before moaning quite loudly. She was about to continue until she heard Kajun.

"Mai! I know it's hard to resist but try not to play with yourself too much~ I need to wash up too!" she told her.

Mai immediately dropped her hands and jumped a bit.

Mai became bright red and began to beat herself up.

'Oh no! Did I really just…!? I feel like the biggest pervert alive!' Mai thought to herself before answering Kajun.

"Um… right! Sorry about that Kajun!" Mai responded before using the bar of soap to clean the other areas without groping herself this time.

As soon as she was finished, she dressed up in her uniform and tied up her hair before walking out the shower room.

"Phew~ I'm all done, it's all yours now Kajun." Mai informed Kajun.

Kajun smiled, "Finally, now I can clean myself up! Say… why don't you join me for another round Mai? I wouldn't mind continuing what you were doing in there for you!" she jested.

Mai turned red, "N-No! I wasn't doing anything! I swear!"

Kajun chuckled as she waved Mai off, "Oh~ I'm kidding Mai! You are so fun to play around with, hehehe! Also, we have gym class this morning, so get your P.E gear ready."

Mai nodded before asking, "Huh? Then what was the point of showering if we're going to get sweaty?"

Kajun shook her head whilst sighing, "Oh Mai~ There are so many things you need to learn about being a lady." She told her.

Mai half-heartedly laughed whilst sweating, "R-Right… hehe…" she replied.

'I seriously don't get how being a girl works anymore…' Mai thought to herself.

As Mai got her Gym bag filled with her P.E uniform and other essentials, a knock on the dorm door got her attention which she quickly unlocked after walking a short distance.

"Hello, who is it?" Mai asked.

In front of her was Tsubaki, Makoto and Noel with all their P.E bags held in front of them, in Makoto's case, hers was thrown over her shoulder like a sling.

"Good morning Mai, did you sleep well last night?" Tsubaki greeted and asked politely.

Mai nodded, "Yeah… a little too well actually, haha!" she laughed a little causing Tsubaki to chuckle.

Noel beamed, "Morning Mai! I brought you something to eat in case you were hungry!" she told her, Mai's face lit up.

"Oh really!? Thanks a bunch Noel! This is gonna be my breakfast for today!" Mai told Noel causing the blonde to grin widely.

Makoto then said her piece, "Hiddy Ho there Mai! Guess what? We have Combat class this morning! Don't you girls just feel excited!? I can't wait to kick some butts!" she cheered whilst bobbing and weaving with a few jabs thrown.

Tsubaki and Noel giggled at Makoto.

"Makoto, please settle down, I know this is your favourite class, but try not to hurt anyone too badly… the last time you got this excited, you put a few of the College students in the infirmary for a week." Tsubaki reminded her.

Makoto nodded, "Ha! You got nothing to worry about girlfriend! As long as they pull their weight, then no one will get hurt!" she pumped her fist towards the sky.

Tsubaki sighed happily, "Oh Makoto~"

Noel flailed a bit, "J-Just please don't hurt anyone too badly~ I don't want people to be mean to each other." She told Makoto.

Makoto then patted Noel's shoulders, "Hey, hey! Don't cha worry Noellers~ As long as I don't use Squirrel power, then everyone will be fine~" she said.

Kajun who had just finished bathing and doing her make-up then came out already dressed in her uniform.

"Somehow… I don't know if that's reassuring, or some other word that escapes me…." Kajun came out.

All the girls looked towards Kajun, "Hey there Kajun! You all set?" Makoto asked.

Kajun nodded, "Yes I am, now, we still have about two hours before Gym class, what do you suppose we do for the time being?"

At this point, Tsubaki, the reserved one, lit up.

"I-I guess we could visit Jin! After all, he's sick at the moment!" Tsubaki blabbered out flustered.

Makoto snorted before saying, "I know, you want to make sure your soon-to-be boyfriend will get better."

Tsubaki's face lit up as bright as her hair, whilst all the other girls struggled to stop the giggles threatening to burst out.

Tsubaki responded, "N-No! It's nothing like that! I-I-I just really admire him… because he's strong, kind, humble and he always watched out for me…" as her eyes began to glaze over. Her friends on the other hand just stared at her blankly.

'Definitely the look of a girl in love…' they all thought.

After a few minutes of Tsubaki glazing over. Noel then interrupted.

"Um… if we're visiting Jin, then can I just stay behind the door?" Noel suggested.

They all remembered how much Jin seemed to hate Noel even though she never did anything to him… at least nothing apparent.

Mai seeing Noel's mood taking a dip, she decided to speak up for her, "Hey, what about this, we could go see Jin together, then maybe all of us could make him something to get well and say that Noel help out too!" she insisted.

Kajun nodded, "Hm… that's not a bad idea, if we do, then maybe he'll warm up to Noel."

Makoto still feeling energetic, "Well what are we waiting for!? Let's head on over! Come on Noellers, we got a sick person waiting for us!" as she pointed towards the nearest Elevator.

Tsubaki then lightened once more whilst grabbing Noel's hand, "That's right Noel! We have to go see him!" whilst having a red blush on her cheeks. Then the trio took the lead whilst Mai and Kajun followed after them.

"You know Kajun, I wonder if she'll ever realise how obvious it is that she likes Jin?"

Kajun agreed, "I wonder that myself."

They discussed Tsubaki's affections for Jin as they got on the elevator with the other three girls who were hoarding Tsubaki about her obvious feelings for the Blonde student.

"No! I swear! I just admire him a lot! That's all!" Tsubaki tried to tell her friends.

Makoto then nudged Tsubaki, "Oh don't be shy Tsubaki! We're your friends, you can tell us~"

Tsubaki flushed a bit more, "N-No! I'm telling you! It's nothing like that!"

However, Noel ended up interrupting her with one of her 'poetic' moments.

"I just came up with something! A girl's feelings burning hotter than the colour of her hair… struggling to tame her hearts flames for the man coloured after the sun!" However, Tsubaki squashed Noel's cheeks.

"NOEL!" Tsubaki yelled with her face burning as hot as her heart's desire for Jin Kisaragi.

All the girls began to howl in laughter at the scene that had unfolded, in fact, they laughed so hard, they didn't register the fact they made it to the 4th floor, where both the High school and College level resources were, as well as the infirmary for that level.

When it did, they heard a rather small and feminine voice catch their attention.

"Excuse me, but may I introduce myself and my friend to you girls?" a polite voice said.

They all turned their sights towards a young girl dressed in the Academy uniform, she had bright blonde, shoulder-length hair tied into pigtails via two dark blue ribbons and stunningly bright baby blue eyes which contrasted greatly against her pale skin.

Tsubaki immediately took her usual mannerisms and spoke to her.

"Oh um… my apologies if my friends and I were being disruptive, my name's Tsubaki Yayoi and these are my friends; Makoto Nanaya, Noel Vermillion, Kajun Faycott and Mai Natsume. And you are…?" she asked in return.

The young blonde apologised, "Oh dear me! I'm Shiori Kirikito." Mai stiffened at that last name.

"I'm rather new to this school, I was meant to be here a few months ago, but my condition prevented me from attending at the intended time." Shiori stated.

"Another new student? Hmm? Perhaps the entrance exams became easier, this is definitely something to look into." Kajun thought out loud.

Mai however, was deep in thought about this girl.

'Kirihito… just like the Mutsuki family's branch family, the Kohaku family, the Kirihito family served the Hazuki family to handle their dirty work. If she's here, that means… is she here to assassinate someone?' Mai thought.

Then they saw another girl behind her, except she had a pink hoody uniform, her face was nothing but darkness with two red circles for eyes and a rather toothy smile. She was scurrying around the walls for a while.

Shiori noticed their gaze being pointed behind her.

"And that's my friend Chachakaka of the Kaka Clan. Please don't mind her manners much, it just runs in her family." She told them.

Almost immediately, the black cloaked Kaka looked up and waved at them.

"Well hello there! Meow~ Let's all be friends, neow!" Chachakaka insisted.

Tsubaki was taken aback by the exuberance of the Kaka but smiled no less.

Noel then replied, "Y-Yes! Let's get along!"

Shiori's gazed then twinkled a bit, "Also…"

Shiori suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind both Kajun and Mai.

Noel, Makoto and Tsubaki all gasped as they all thought the worst was going to occur, until…

Shiori suddenly began to start groping Kajun's and Mai's boobs.

"KYAH! W-What are you doing!?" Mai asked.

However, Shiori looked at Kajun making Mai follow her gaze where she saw Chachakaka mischievously pushing Kajun's own bosom into hers.

Chachakaka giggled, "Hehehe! Boobies are really soft meow!"

Shiori nodded, "MmHm! A grown woman's body is always so fun to play with.

Eventually they let Kajun and Mai go who both had furious blushes on their faces.

Then Shiori apologised, "Sorry for that, I just couldn't help myself, I haven't really had much interaction with others, so I may be a little off putting to you."

Mai managed to stutter out, "Um… it's okay, I guess, but what do you mean by that?" she asked hoping to gain some information regarding a potential assassination.

Shiori then explained, "Well you see, I was born with a very frail body which caused me to undergo much surgery… But my family deemed me too weak to be able to do anything, so they sent me here hoping I'd improve upon myself…" she told them.

At this point Noel was letting out a few tears, Makoto looked teary eyed in a comical way, Tsubaki was dabbing her eyes a bit and Kajun was nodding as she took in 'valuable information'.

Mai began to formula a rather sad yet reassuring conclusion.

'Is she like me? Someone who was outcasted by their family? Maybe she isn't an assassin.'

However, her thoughts were interrupted by some rather incoherent swearing.

"That fricking bitch! I swear if she's just trying to make my time here as shitty as possible, then I am going to go goddamn berserker on her ass!" A familiar gruff voice swore.

The girls all looked in the direction it came from and saw Ragna letting out some of his frustrations through some good old cussing.

Kajun got his attention first, "Good morning Ragna, well… by the way you were swearing just before, I'm guessing it hasn't been so good for you." She put it out there.

Ragna then looked up, "Huh? Oh you girls again, hopefully, your morning hasn't been as crappy as mine." He told them.

Mai became curious and asked, "Um… would we even want to know what happened?"

Ragna looked at Mai and replied to her, "Well I'd rather not say anything about what happened to me… but the only thing you girls need to know is that I think Emma is a complete bitch."

The girls nodded, however, Noel had to ask, "Um, excuse me Ragna, but why do you have to talk like that? Also, Emma isn't that bad… Unless you count her taking my 'dream' away…" Noel ended with a slight bitter tone as she recalled the padded bra that was in her possession for a short while.

Ragna blinked a few times before replying, "Oh! The way I talk? Sorry, I'm not used to this whole socialising thing. So… if I piss any of you off, I wouldn't hold it against you."

They nodded before Ragna turned to Tsubaki who was staring hard at him, a far cry from the gentle gaze she gave him yesterday.

Ragna swallowed a ball of saliva, he knew that he had some explaining to do.

"Hey there Tsubaki, thanks again for invite to your group."

Tsubaki's gaze lightened up, "Yes, it's been quite a pleasure having you eat with us, but may I ask about your actions from yesterday?"

Ragna nodded and scratched his head a little uneasy.

"Well… urgh! Alright! First of all, Makoto! Sorry for throwing you off like that, I didn't mean to hurt you or anything. I kind of have a 'medical' condition that harms other if they touch my right arm. Now then, sorry for being an ass, I didn't mean to ruin the moment, I just… didn't want any you to get hurt because of me…" Ragna apologised, then he looked back at the girls who were just staring at him bewildered.

Ragna sweated a little until Makoto cheered to him.

"Don't sweat it Ragna! I was sure you had a good reason… glad to know you did! I mean, I shouldn't have been so touchy with you when we first met." Makoto told him.

Tsubaki beamed, "I see… I'm glad to know that you didn't want to hurt anyone. Glad to see we can still be friends." She told him.

Noel nodded, "Don't worry about that Ragna! After what you did for me… I doubt you'd hurt anyone."

Mai smiled at her friends before looking towards Ragna.

"Looks like we're all still going strong!" Mai said happily knowing that she'd finally have a guy friend.

Ragna let out a breath of relief before admitting.

"Phew! That was much easier than I thought! I mean, I'm happy you girls still wanna be my friends after all that."

Then Tsubaki giggled along with her friends.

"Yes! I was actually hoping you'd still be friends with us. After all, we did just throw ourselves at you." Tsubaki told him.

Ragna smiled, "Well, good thing we worked it out because out of all the people I've met, you girls seem to be the coolest to me." He told them.

Makoto then asked, "So, we just seem cool to you? Not that 'we are cool'?" with a bit of false disbelief.

Tsubaki gave Makoto that stare again, however Ragna said.

"You're playing that game again? Alright, you girls are cool! You happy!" Ragna told them.

Makoto nodded, "Heck yeah!"

Then Ragna noticed Kajun looking at Ragna up close at all sorts of angles with her notepad.

"Um… Princess? What's up with you?" Ragna asked as he was slowly welling up with fear.

Kajun just mumbled, "Hm? Yep, it's confirmed… not showering before starting the day is a guy thing…" she quietly sighed.

Ragna began to feel insecure.

"Hey um… Mai, is she always like this?" Ragna asked her.

Mai replied, "Only when she's finds something new or interesting, but don't worry, she does that to almost everybody." As if to reassure him.

Then Shiori who was just standing by quietly spoke up.

"Excuse, Mr Ragna, I'm Shiori Hitokiri, nice to meet you."

Ragna nodded, "Oh! Sorry didn't see you there shorty, yeah, nice to meet you and that friend of yours behind you, whose been staring at me for a while now."

Shiori turned to face Chachakaka and told her to introduce herself.

However, Chachakaka just prowled closer to Ragna to examine him more closely.

Ragna began to get more irritated, "Okay, I've had a bad enough morning dealing with some bullshit scan. I don't need you adding to my list of bad mornings." He warned the Kaka.

Chachakaka then exclaimed, "AH! Neow I remember! Meow! I know you!"

Ragna bluntly replied, "Yeeeeeeah… I don't think so."

The girls for some reason giggled at Ragna's response.

Chacha then told him, "You're the Spikey White-haired blockhead that Tao told me about, meow!"

Ragna's face scrunched and he shouted at Chacha.

"If you see that little brat again, tell that kid I'll throw them into a pit full of hungry dogs who'll eat her!" Ragna replied.

Chacha grinned, "Alright Blockhead! Chacha will be sure to tell Tao that! Meow~"

Ragna indignantly cried, "Don't call me that you dunce!" as he weakly swung a left hook at Chacha who leaned back and spun her arms rapidly to keep her balance.

Chacha gave a hearty laugh, "Hahahah! Chacha got Blockhead Mad neow! Hoho!" she cheered.

Ragna fired back, "I'm not even ticked!" he claimed which brought the girls of Remix Heart and Shiori to give him blank stares.

"Tch. Okay, a little… Now can anyone tell me what's going on right now!?" Ragna asked for somebody to change the subject.

Tsubaki then immediately lit up.

"Oh! Right! We're meant to be visiting Jin! But we didn't want to come empty handed, so we thought we'd use the kitchen on this level to make him something to get better!" she said like a little kid on sugar.

Ragna then asked, "Um… Okay, not to be rude or anything but you're acting really hyper right now. Did you take something this morning?"

He hoped that the one normal chick didn't get on drugs.

Tsubaki took a step back and then tried to play it off.

"Wah! N-No! I'm the same as usual! I just want to make sure Jin is okay!" Tsubaki 'covered'.

However, Makoto wouldn't let this slide.

"Meh! Don't mind Tsubaki, whenever her 'boyfriend' Jin is involved, she gets really excited and flustered." Makoto said.

Noel then added, "Yeah! She has a school girl crush on nmph!"

Tsubaki clasped Noel's lips shut, "It's nothing like that! I mean it!" she cried.

Then Kajun went all researcher mode, "Well based on the data on retrieved on Tsubaki. Her affections for Jin are obvious." She announced.

Tsubaki looked gobsmacked, "You too Kajun!?"

Mai was just giggling at the girls and eventually asked Ragna.

"Hey, is there anything you want to say about this?" Mai asked causing Ragna to shrug.

"Well, I don't believe her for a second about her not liking Jin, but I'll just say she doesn't, just to be nice." Ragna put it out there.

Tsubaki then looked to Ragna, "I mean it, please, I just admire him and… want to be like him someday…" as she began to glaze over again.

Ragna looked sceptical, "Yeah, you're not doing a good job at convincing anyone with that look. Anyway, about making Jin some food, don't worry, I met his friends earlier and they brought something to eat."

"But something made with care and get-well wishes from a loved one is the best cure for any illness!" Tsubaki rebutted Ragna's advice.

Ragna began to shrink back before saying, "Or some medicine and some rest but I'm not gonna bother arguing."

Makoto then slapped a hand on his left shoulder, "You're learning quickly pal!"

Ragna nodded and replied, "I don't think anyone needs to know her to realise she has it bad for Jin."

As they debated whether Tsubaki's feelings for Jin were love or not. Shiori suddenly spoke loudly.

"Ah! You people know Jin!?" Shiori asked.

Kajun took point, "Yes we do, maybe not Ragna, but we're good friends of his. Why do you ask?" she questioned.

Shiori explained, "Well, Jin Kisaragi is a very well-known individual for his potential and Academics! I'd really would like to meet him!"

At this Tsubaki agreed along with her friends. However, Mai got to thinking again.

'Is her target Jin?' Mai thought.

Noel then told Shiori and Chacha, "Alright then! Come along and cook with us!"

Shiori nodded furiously, "Yes! Please lead the way."

Chacha however, "Nah! Chacha is gonna find a place to nap neow! Cya!" as told them before bouncing away.

Kajun asked, "What's with your friend?"

Shiori told her, "Chacha likes to be alone and take naps. So please don't mind her."

The girls continued to walk towards the kitchen area whilst making short talk about anything. However, Ragna was walking slight behind the group whilst narrowing his eyes on Shiori, but Mai got his attention.

"Hey Ragna, what's on your mind? You've been stoning for a while." Mai expressed her concerns.

"Nothing important, anyway, what's with the bags?" Ragna asked.

Mai blinked before remembering she and her friends had combat class in 2 hours.

"Oh! Our first period today is Combat at the Gym." Mai replied.

Ragna then looked up, "Wait that's what I have today. Same place as well." He informed her.

Mai then brightened up, "Really!? Sweet! We could group up and do all kinds of things!" she told him.

Ragna nodded with a grin, "Well, at least I won't be alone… but I'm a College student and you girls are still High school students, aren't there any separations?"

Kajun took point after hearing their conversation.

"Well Ragna, in the Academy, the level you're at depends on age and statistics. But for some class like gym class, are lower level compared to other subjects, so College and High school students are often in direct contact with each other on a daily basis." Kajun explained.

Ragna replied, "I see… thanks! I still don't get how all this school stuff works so I appreciate the help Princess."

However, Noel noticed something, "How come you wouldn't know how school works? Didn't you study at some other school before trying to enter the Academy?" she asked.

Ragna shook his head.

This made all the girls pause and Makoto being the loud one asked, "Hold it there, buddy! You're not saying that you've never went to a school before now, did you!?"

Ragna nodded and confessed, "That's exactly what I'm saying, I've never went to a school in my life before now. Wasn't that the case for you girls?"

The girls' jaws were unhinged. Mai then told him.

"No! I mean, almost everyone here has gone to a school just to study to get into the Academy, no matter how long it takes! Some are home-schooled, yes, but… you never went to a school before now?" Mai questioned Ragna.

Ragna nodded, "Yeah, I never went to a school. I just studied alright, nothing to it." He told them.

Mai then put her hands on Ragna's shoulders, "Dude… that's something to be proud of… Don't just shrug it off." Mai told him as she stared him right in his eyes.

Ragna blushed a little at Mai's closeness.

"H-Hey! I get it, I'll keep my head up high! Just move back a little." Ragna told her.

Mai moved back a little confused at Ragna's current flustered state but gave him a smile.

However, they both heard Kajun say something.

"Hm… Even Ragna Mitsuyoshi gets nervous around girls." Kajun noted.

Ragna's cheeks turned from pink to red.

"I think that goes for every guy Princess!" Ragna tried to save face for himself.

Mai also blushed as she realised why Ragna was so flustered.

'Oh crud! I almost forgot that I was a girl around Ragna again!' Mai told herself.

Fortunately for the group, they arrived at the kitchen, unlike the small open kitchen in the Cafeteria from yesterday.

The kitchen in the cooking rooms were massive! They featured the same fancy engraved wooden floors and tables. However, the walls were absent of any unnecessary portraits and wall decorations. Instead, some parts of some walls were lined with aprons of varying sizes and some walls with either holding pans, spatulas and etc. Also, there were some work benches decked out with an assortment of knifes and the typical pantry items of spices and baking soda.

At the moment, Ragna was taking in the view whilst smiling to himself.

'Yep! I think I can live with this!' Ragna thought to himself.

"Ragna! We picked out an apron for you! We thought it was cute!" Noel pushed it towards Ragna.

Mai was already in her apron whilst holding her hand up slightly, "Um… guys? I don't think he'll wear that…"

Ragna then looked at the apron and almost fall over himself.

"What the heck!? I'm not wearing that!" Ragna told the girls.

Makoto then told Ragna, "Come on Ragna! We made sure to pick out the best one!"

Kajun then joined in, "I believe it would contrast greatly against your features." She told him.

"Ahem! You three! Stop! Not everyone is going to like what you pick out." She scolded them.

Makoto then swung her arm around Tsubaki's shoulders.

"Don't be like that~ Didn't you pick that one out too?" Makoto asked.

Tsubaki flushed but replied, "I did… but we have to respect other's preferences."

Ragna was just watching the girls go on about the apron that'd fit him best. He then said quietly to Mai.

"I don't get how girls think." Ragna told her.

Mai instinctively said, "Tell me about…" which made Ragna blink at her for a few seconds before asking.

"What do you mean? You're a girl too." He reminded her.

Mai jumped and flailed, "Um! I mean, I don't get how they think either! You know! All girls have various quirks and all that! Hahaha…" she tried to cover.

Ragna didn't look like he was buying it, "Yeah, well I'm already starting to see your quirks." He told her.

Mai flinched before asking, "Is that a bad thing?"

Ragna waved it off, "Nah, to be honest, you got your shit together the most out of all the people I've met here, except for your taste buds… But other than that, you've actually been the coolest towards me." He told her honestly.

Mai smiled, "Oh, don't mention it. It's just nice having someone who I can talk to normally." She told him.

Ragna chuckled, "Yeah! A normal conversation must be impossible with them." He jested.

Mai giggled at the joke, "You got that right!" she laughed a little louder along with Ragna at his joke.

As they were laughing, their moment was interrupted by Makoto who brought them back to reality.

"Hey you two! It's nice that you're both getting along but try not to flirt too much~" Makoto teased them both.

Mai blushed and jumped at the accusation whilst Ragna scrowled whilst having a faint blush.

"We were just having a good laugh Makoto! That's all! Now… which apron should I wear… this one will do." Ragna pulled out a red chef apron which had no patterns on it much to his pleasure and most of the girls' dismay.

"This would have looked so much cuter on you~" Noel whined.

Ragna replied, "Yeah, too bad. I wouldn't be caught dead in that thing."

Finally, the entire group began to start cooking some rice porridge for Jin, however, Tsubaki and Makoto set up some ground rules for Noel.

She could not at any moment, add anything to the pot or even alter the ingredients and she could however, bring the ingredients to the girls.

Noel whined about not being able to help, "Oh~ I really want to help out too~ I feel so useless here~" Then her eyes lit up.

"I know, I'll just try to make my own pot of rice porridge! Then serve it alongside Tsubaki's!" Noel giggled to herself.

When Mai heard this, her eyes twinkled, "Oh yes! Please do Noel! I really want to have your cooking to eat later!"

Ragna then walked up besides Noel and asked, "Mind if I see how you cook?"

Noel sparkled, "Sure thing! I don't mind! I think I'm pretty good at it!"

Ragna blanched, "No you are not!".

Noel puffed her cheeks, "Yes I am! I'll prove it!" she told him as she returned her focus back on the boiling rice.

Ragna gave a slightly victorious smirk before turning towards a happily humming Mai watching Noel cook.

"And you can go help those four out." Ragna told her.

Mai wailed, "Eh! Why do I have too? Can't you go? She questioned.

Ragna then leaned down to her ear which for some reason caused her heart to skip a beat and her face to gain heat.

Ragna then whispered into her ears, "That Shiori girl…"

Mai's eyes widened, she completely forgot about the Hitokiri girl.

"Eh? What do you mean?" she asked just as quietly.

Ragna replied, "Something about shorty just screams fake to me. Keep an eye on her will ya?" he requested.

Mai stepped away and nodded.

As she turned around, she was immediately met by the sight of Kajun.

"Excuse me Mai, but what were you two whispering about?" she asked with a hint of humour.

Mai spluttered for a good excuse, however, Ragna saved her behind when he told her.

"We were just having a small argument about who'll help Noel cook her food and other unimportant crap. Didn't want to drag anyone else into it." Ragna told Kajun.

Kajun looked thoughtful making Mai nervous.

Kajun then grinned, "Arguing already I see~ You two are sure getting along quickly. Anyhow, Mai, come help us." She told Ragna and called for Mai.

Ragna nodded before turning back to observe Noel's cooking.

Ragna blinked at what he saw, he didn't see any of that black, purple and green pile of warm shit that he had yesterday.

So far, Noel's porridge looked okay.

… For now

 **With Mai**

As per Ragna's request, she was not only helping the girls with Tsubaki's porridge. But also keeping one eye on Shiori as much as possible since she had suspected the young blonde of potentially trying to assassinate Jin Kisaragi via Tsubaki's heartfelt cooking.

As Tsubaki was added in some salt and pepper along with some coriander to jazz up the flavour. She gave her porridge a few more stirs until

"There! It's pretty much done! Something homemade and nutritious will definitely help Jin get better!" Tsubaki cheered as she daydreamed about Jin and her.

Makoto took this opportunity to take a ladleful amount of Tsubaki's porridge then slurped loudly on it which gained Tsubaki's attention.

"Makoto! That's for Jin!" she told her.

Makoto let out a burp causing Kajun to cringe and said.

"Relax Tsubaki, you made a whole pot full of Rice Porridge! Which was delicious by the way! Jin's going to love this!" Makoto told her.

Tsubaki blushed a little, "You think so." She replied quietly.

Makoto nodded and Kajun took point in transferring some of the food into a bowl before putting it on a tray with a fork and knife alongside it.

Kajun then said, "Alright ladies, shall we get going?"

The girls nodded, however, Shiori stopped them.

"Wait a minute! You say you want Jin to get better soon right? I have something that can help."

Tsubaki questioned her, "Really?"

Shiori proved it when she pulled out a vial contain a small herb.

Mai's being tensed, 'Is that poison? Is she going to poison Jin?'

Kajun being the curious one who wanted to learn as much as possible asked her, "Excuse me, but what is that?"

Shiori explained to them, "It's a special herb that contains a numerous amount of nutrients and is often used in herbal medicine. It's also great as a spice."

Tsubaki's eyes brightened, "Really? Then please put it in!" she told her as she was willing to do whatever it took to get Jin better soon.

Mai however, didn't buy it, as soon as Shiori added the 'spice'. She offered to taste it.

"Hey! Let me have a taste!" Mai said out abruptly.

Makoto along with the other girls, excluding Noel who was busy cooking, looked at her in shock.

"Are you sure Mai? I mean, I thought you could only eat Noellers' food?" she asked.

Mai quickly came up with a plausible excuse.

"I… guess since Tsubaki put so much effort into her dish, I thought maybe I could actually eat it." Mai told her.

The girls nodded and found nothing wrong with her reason.

Mai stepped forward and took a spare spoon to taste Tsubaki's porridge.

As she eyed the portion which slowly headed towards her mouth, she closed her eyes in an attempt to flush any fear out of her body.

'Here goes nothing!' Mai told herself as she swallowed the porridge in a way to avoid tasting it too much. Then she set aside her spoon and waited for anything to happen to her body.

One second… Two seconds… Three seconds…

Ten seconds… Thirty seconds…

One minute…

Nothing.

Mai blinked for a bit, 'It's fine! No ill intentions, only Tsubaki's feelings towards Jin amongst the other feelings of the ingredients.'

Mai then turned around, "It's good!"

"Hooray! Congrats Tsubaki! Even Mai said it was good! Now we can serve it to Jin!" Makoto told her.

As they were about to continue talking.

They heard Ragna critiquing Noel harshly.

"Why the hell did you put fricking durian in the porridge!?" Ragna questioned Noel's choice.

Noel shot back, "I thought it'd make it taste better because it's fresh!" she told him.

Ragna then told her, "Durian fruit makes things way too sweet and sour! T-That's not even an ingredient in the kitchen, where did you get that!?" he questioned her choice of ingredients.

Noel smiled, "I stored it using a spell I learnt from the library! So, whenever I want to cook something, I just take the ingredients out!" she told him.

Ragna scratched his head, "You are insane… but that's kind of impressive… but back on track, do you even taste your own food?" he asked her.

Noel shook her head, "I make it a code to never taste anything I make." She stated with a glint in her eyes that actually creeped Ragna out.

"So, you never even taste your own food? No wonder why your dish was an actual pile of shit." He said under his breath.

Noel puffed her cheeks out and yelled louder than anyone has ever heard her yell before, "My food isn't bad! It's good! Mai even tells me!"

"Mai does not count… if you were smart, you'd know that your food is garbage." He told her bluntly.

"It's not that bad! And I'm not stupid!" Noel flailed at Ragna.

Ragna just scratched his head and shut his right eye.

"Tell me that when you're not stupid." Ragna told her.

Noel fumed and responded, "OOHH! Ragna, you are so mean!"

Ragna just bluntly told her, "I think 'honest' is the word you're looking for."

Noel turned red in embarrassment continued trying to justify why she wasn't a bad cook or not stupid.

Shiori became curious as to what Noel made.

"Huh? This is rice porridge?" she eyed the unrecognisable lumpy stew that seemed to bubble like magma.

Noel immediately went from mad to delightful with stars all over her.

"Oh! Shiori, please help yourself!" Noel told her.

"How the hell did you do that!?" Ragna questioned her Bipolar ability.

Shiori then took a spoonful of Noel's 'porridge'.

Ragna then warned her, "Trust me… don't do it."

Noel however, spoke over him, "Don't worry! It's ready to eat!"

Ragna wanted to say something else but gave up and turned his body to face the other girls.

"You did what you could Ragna… but it's futile… no one can escape the fate of Noel's death dinner." Tsubaki told him.

Ragna sighed, "I can't believe something like that exists…"

Kajun then sympathised with him.

"Some things… you can never quite understand." Kajun told him.

Then, it happened. They heard Shiori cough and gag.

Ragna turned around and said, "What did I tell ya!?"

Shiori took a huge gulp from a glass of water.

"It's okay… It was just… an unexpected flavour, that's all." Shiori said.

In her mind however, 'Never in my life… have I encountered something that powerful.'

Mai however, skipped towards Noel's porridge and got herself a huge bowl of it.

"Thank you for the meal Noel!" Mai thanked her as she began to munch down on it.

Noel beamed, "Your welcome!"

Shiori stared blankly at Mai's continuous crusade of eating Noel's pot of death.

Makoto walked up to her and told her, "Get used to it, it's normal."

Shiori nodded with her smile returning, "Thanks, I will keep that in mind."

Kajun then reminded everyone, "Alright, now that's out of the way, we should go see Jin now, his food is getting cold."

Everyone nodded, except Ragna who just followed the girls to their destination.

 **At the infirmary door**

Tsubaki became a bundle of nerves as she and the group neared the entrance of the infirmary.

Makoto squeezed her shoulders to comfort her, "Don't you worry Tsubaki! Jin will definitely accept your feelings!" she encouraged her.

Tsubaki nodded shakily as she muttered out, "Y-You think so?"

Noel then joined in, "Yeah Tsubaki! I mean, you put your heart and soul into it! Of course, Jin will like it!"

Tsubaki began to smile and looked forward at the door leading to the one she admired.

"Alright… I can do this! Everyone ready?" Tsubaki asked everyone.

"Yeeeah! I'm gonna pass." He replied.

"Huh? Why not Ragna?" Tsubaki asked.

Makoto asked, "Yeah, why don't you? Jin's a pretty cool guy and I think he'll like you."

Noel looked at Ragna expectantly for an answer.

Ragna closed his eyes and scratched his head whilst telling them.

"Well, for starters, I don't know the way back to the Gym from here. Also, I don't do so well with sappy situation…" he told her making Tsubaki blush again.

"Oh please, not you too Ragna. It's not like…" Tsubaki tried to finish until Kajun excused herself.

"Actually, I have somewhere to be as well, I'll see you all at class." Kajun informed them.

Mai looked at Kajun, "What? What do you need to do?" she asked her roommate.

Kajun just gave her a smile, "Oh nothing! I only need to make a call. Thanks for understanding! See you all later!" she waved them as she walked down the corridor.

As the girls and Ragna stared at Kajun walk away. The only male member of Remix Heart stated, "And with that, I'll be on my way."

"Wait! You said you didn't know the way back to the Gym from here right?" Mai asked him.

Ragna spared Mai a glance and nodded.

Mai offered him to lead the way, "Then I'll show you the way to the Gym!"

This offer surprised Tsubaki, Makoto and Noel by a far bit.

"Wait! Don't you want to see Jin together?" Makoto asked.

Mai told them, "Well… I don't really know Jin that well, so I think I'll make things more awkward if I'm there." She reasoned.

However, Noel's eyes glinted… one of her stupid poems was coming to fruition.

"I can see it now! A young maiden… whose heart was stolen at the sight of a mysterious man… she gave up everything, from gifts to friendship… to follow the one she loves." Noel spoke poetically.

Mai's face burned whilst Makoto and Tsubaki struggled to hold back their laughter.

"Noel! It's not like that! We only met yesterday! And…" Mai was about to refute until Ragna did it for her by palming Noels head with his left hand.

"Yeah! If you call that poetry, then you've just solidified my point of you being stupid Noel." Ragna told her.

Noel began to pout and try to pull Ragna's hand off her head.

"Quit calling me stupid! You big meanie! Ow! Hey stop!" Noel struggled to escape Ragna's palming.

Ragna smirked at her, "Only when you start making poems that make sense… then we'll see about that. Alright, now that's done with. Mai, show me the way." He asked Mai.

Mai smiled and agreed.

"Alright! Let's see… down this way. Come on Ragna!" Mai told him.

Ragna walked quickly, "Hey! Slow down!"

The two began to talk about random things ranging from Noel's nasty cooking and Mai was trying to convince Ragna that Emma wasn't that much of a… in his words… a bitch.

"She isn't that bad Ragna, I mean come on, one time, we were supposed to clean her room, but found a grimoire instead and she found out that we discovered her hobby. Then she gave me and the girls a full course of Noel's cooking! Isn't that nice!?" Mai told him.

Ragna blanched, "For you… maybe… me? That makes her more of an ass!" he replied.

Ragna and Mai continued to talk about these things as Tsubaki, Makoto and Noel saw them disappear around a corner.

"For some reason, I feel like those two are going to be together a lot. And I don't just mean as buddies! You know what I'm sayin?" Makoto told Tsubaki, Noel and Shiori.

Noel agreed, "I understand, I really do think I'm right about my latest poem…" she said with slight hope in her eyes.

Shiori however, found herself curious about Ragna, "Excuse me, who is Ragna again?"

Makoto explained to her, "Oh! My bad! Ragna's like you, a new student who came here yesterday… but he came in like a badass! You should have been here! He knocked the crap out of Kazaki like he was nothing!"

Shiori smiled slowly, "Wow! He must be very strong! I'd like to see him in action."

Tsubaki then reminded them, "Anyway, it's time to visit Jin. You girls ready?" which they all nodded.

As if they rehearsed this, Noel and Makoto slowly parted the door, as it opened, light could be seen shooting out of the room and slowly, Tsubaki's eyes acclimated to the light and her mood and heart swelled.

There he was… Jin Kisaragi, the man she was 'secretly' in love with.

She made her way over to Jin, but Taro who was standing near the bed.

"Hey there Tsubaki! What are you doing here?" Taro asked like a puppy.

Tsubaki sobered up and told him, 'Oh! Um… We're here to give Jin something healthy to eat… you know, so he'll get better as soon as possible."

Taro and Akane who walked up besides Taro to check her out again, blinked at the word 'we're' and saw Noel, Makoto and Shiori.

"Oh hi there! And who's she?" Akane asked.

Shiori politely bowed, "Excuse my intrusion, I'm Shiori Hitokiri. I only came to this school today and ready wanted to meet the school's honour student, Jin Kisaragi. Is he here?" she asked.

Akane gave her a smile and said, "Yeah, he's here, we're his friends, I'm Akane Teruhiko. This here is Taro Sasagae, don't mind him if he's being an idiot."

However, instead of Taro whining like a kid, his gaze was intently eying the dish Tsubaki had in her hands.

Tsubaki was talking to Jin, who was sweating profusely and seemed to be in even worst condition than yesterday.

"Jin? Jin? I'm here, me and the girls made you something to eat so you'll get better soon." Tsubaki said quietly to Jin who looked at Tsubaki.

"T-Tsubaki… I'm *breathe* glad you're here. And who else is here?" Jin asked between huffs and puffs.

Makoto popped in and greeted him, "Yo Jin! We chipped in with Tsubaki here! She really wanted to help you get better."

Jin gave a ghost of a nod, before a voice he'd rather not hear hit his ears.

"H-H-Hello Jin, I-I-I hope you'll get well soon…" Noel gave her best wishes.

Jin managed to give Noel a scolding glare which made Noel flinch.

"Why are you here?" Jin asked her.

Noel flinched at not just the coldness in his voice, but also how weak and sickly he sounded.

"I-I wanted to let y-you know that I wanted to help you get better… and uh…" Noel tried to gather some words, but Jin cast her out.

"Noel… I'd much rather prefer if you left this vicinity now…" Jin told her.

Noel looked down and complied.

"O-Okay Jin… I'll see you girls at Gym class, bye." Noel walked out and made her way to the Gym with her bag.

After she left, Makoto told them she'd go with her and leave them to it.

Tsubaki then gave Jin a soft glare.

"Jin… please… Noel helped out in making this for you, despite how you treat her, she really does care for you." Tsubaki scolded him lightly.

Jin narrowed his eyes whilst slightly looking elsewhere.

"I have no need for her concern…" Jin told Tsubaki who just looked upset with him.

However, after a few uncomfortable seconds, Jin muttered out.

"Thanks…" Jin managed.

Tsubaki looked confuse. "Huh?"

Jin looked a little red, but not from sickness, "Tell Noel that… I'm not ungrateful… but thank you for looking out for me… I'll consider my attitude towards Noel…" Jin mustered up.

Tsubaki gave him a glowing smile.

"I appreciate the effort Jin! But you're going to have to say that to her yourself. Now here, we made some rice porridge, it's good. Here, say ahh~" Tsubaki spooned him some food.

However, before Jin could even manage to open his mouth.

Taro lunged forward and took the spoonful of food before silently 'critiquing' the dish.

Then he cheered, "It's good! Man~ The food made and feed to you by a girl always taste best~" Taro said cheerfully.

Akane gave the guy a slap on the back of his head, "Taro, that was for Jin! But seriously, how'd it tastes?" he ended with a quiet curiosity.

Jin friends were talking between themselves whilst he glared at Taro for taking what was rightfully his before Tsubaki offered him another spoon.

"Don't worry Jin, here's another. Ahh~" Tsubaki spooned him.

Jin opened his mouth and took it gratefully. He savoured the flavour before sighing in fulfilment and satisfaction.

"Thank… you Tsubaki… Sorry, but I… can't eat another bite… I wish I could… it's… really good." He said warmly, a stark contrast to his personality towards Noel.

Tsubaki's face looked like she reached heaven and told him it was alright.

"That's okay, I'll stay here with you." She offered.

Jin immediately rebutted, "No, it's okay… You have… class soon, right?"

Tsubaki reasoned, "It's just gym class and my Academics are fine. I can stay here with you."

Jin looked guilty but thanked her again. He then reminisced about their younger days.

"I remember back then, I was always taking care of you." Jin recalled.

Tsubaki turned red and spluttered.

"W-What!? Really? Was I that…?" Tsubaki wanted to question, but Jin laughed it off.

"I'm kidding… you were always… a good girl… looking out for others… even when they weren't the… greatest of people… I… admire that…" Jin managed to tell her.

Tsubaki gave him a happy smile before thanking him.

Jin then told her, "Sorry… Tsubaki… I'm falling asleep…"

He informed her as he fell asleep.

Tsubaki's gaze lingered on his sleeping face for a few moments as she parted Jin's hair from his face.

Jin began to mumble in his sleep.

"Let's… play again…" Jin said as he dreamed.

Tsubaki giggled, "That's new, you talk in your sleep… Are you dreaming about the times we would play together back when we were kids?" she quietly asked him not expecting any response.

However, instead of saying a memory of theirs… it was a mumble of Jin's that made Tsubaki's curiosity spike.

"Let's play swords again…" Jin said.

Tsubaki thought, 'Swords?'

Jin continued, "Brother… Play with… me…" he finished as he finally nodded off.

This was a revelation to Tsubaki. Not once in their long years of friendship had Jin ever mentioned anything about his family aside from his those from the Kisaragi family and a few honourable mentions.

Tsubaki looked to Taro for an answer, "Excuse me Taro? But, do you know anything about Jin's brother?"

Taro shook his head, "Nope! Nothing, might be someone in the Kisaragi family. You know how they have a ton of kids in their family. Only thing I can tell you is that he did mention a Sister and some girl named Saya." Taro informed her.

Tsubaki's nodded, "I see, well then, I guess I better get to class, Jin wouldn't want me to miss out on class." She told them as she sat herself up.

"Shiori, are you coming too?" Tsubaki asked her.

"Yes! I need to attend class too, I have gym as well, please show me the way." Shiori requested.

Tsubaki nodded and lead her out of the room.

As Tsubaki and Shiori were walking down the corridor.

Tsubaki's brows and fists tightened.

'Saya? Who is Saya? Saya… Kisaragi? No, I never heard of that name. Who is she?' Tsubaki wondered and worried.

"Excuse me Miss Yayoi, is something bothering you?" Shiori asked her.

"Huh!? Oh! No! Nothing is the matter with me! I'm just excited for gym class… oh, there's Noel and Makoto!"

As she said their names, Noel and Makoto looked up and waved her and Shiori over.

"Hey Tsubaki! How are things going with your boyfriend?" Makoto teased.

Tsubaki's face burned, "Makoto! It's not like that! I keep telling you!" she told her.

Noel seemed to be not too upset by Jin, "Hey Tsubaki, did Jin eat your porridge?" she asked.

Tsubaki nodded, "Yes, he said he wished he could eat because it was very good. I do hope he can get better soon." She told them.

"Oh! Also, Noel, Jin might tell you later, but he said he wasn't ungrateful to you. I even told him that he needs to thank you himself." Tsubaki reassured Noel whose mood perked up tremendously.

Makoto then changed the subject, "Well yeah! Enough about that, we got Combat lessons to do! Let's kick some butts girls!" she cheered as she lead the girls on a wild goose chase towards the Gym.

"Makoto! Noel! No running in the halls!" she called out to them before turning to Shiori, "Sorry about them, they can get a little overexcited."

Shiori told her that she didn't mind, in fact, it was something she liked.

Tsubaki nodded and the two followed Noel and Makoto with the latter busting the Gym room open to find a gathering of students from both the High School and College departments. There weren't too many students, all of them adding up to about 30 people.

But what caught their attention were the three people apparently having an argument.

"Wait! You're saying you took a shower before this class, even though you're just gonna get sweaty right after?" Ragna questioned Kajun's logic.

Kajun replied, "Of course! A lady mustn't forget to keep herself prim and proper for the day." She told Ragna.

Ragna looked like his mind was blown.

"I… seriously don't understand why anyone does that… Why not build the stink up and then shower?" Ragna asked Kajun and Mai.

Mai put a hand on his shoulder, "Don't argue… I've already tried…"

Ragna then started waving his hands in Mai's general direction.

"See? At least she gets me!" Ragna said.

Then Makoto bounced right up to them, "Howdy do you three! What cha on about?" Makoto asked.

Ragna looked towards Makoto and replied, "Oh, hey Makoto, we were just talking about why the heck would you shower before exercising knowing you'll just take another one right after." As he pointed his thumbs at Kajun and Mai.

Mai looked insulted, "H-Hey! Just letting you know, I was forced to take one by Kajun! She wouldn't leave me alone."

Kajun then sighed, "Oh dear Mai… you are way too boyish, the fact that you do the same thing as Ragna."

Ragna just shrugged whilst Makoto laughed, "Oh yeah! I do the same thing! In fact, I didn't shower as well because I knew that I had Gym class this morning!" she told them.

Ragna grinned, "See, another one on the side of logic."

Then Tsubaki, Noel and Shiori joined in, "Ahem! Excuse me, but what is this about showering?" Tsubaki asked.

Kajun looked at Tsubaki and told her, "Oh! Tsubaki! Noel! And Shiori, we were just talking about whether or not you should shower in the morning whether or not you're going to get sweaty right after?" she told them the topic.

Tsubaki, being raised a proper lady told them, "I certainly take one every morning, regardless of what I have for the day. I can't stand the thought of being all dirty and sticky in the morning. Not to mention it refreshes my mind."

Noel agreed, "Yeah, I take one because I'm usually too tired unless I take one. What about you Shiori?"

Shiori blinked before saying, "Well sure I do! It washes off all the dangerous compounds and stops me from diluting anything."

Everyone just blinked at her response for a few minutes.

"I… didn't get that at all." Ragna said.

However, Kajun looked back at Ragna and smirked at him.

"Well~ It looks like it's four against three. Doesn't that mean I win?" Kajun told him.

Ragna frowned and replied, "Whatever, my point still stands!" as he looked away to avoid seeing Kajun's victorious smirk. Instead, he was met with the sight of Emma who brought a scowl upon his face.

"You again…" Ragna muttered out. Emma gave him a smirk.

"I did tell you to come back here. And good morning detectives. I hope you're looking forward to class." Emma asked them.

The girls nodded with Makoto pumping her right arm in the air hoping to get right into Combat class.

"Good morning Emma! Say! Are we going to kick some butts today!?" Makoto asked.

Emma gave a slight smile and told her, "Language Makoto and yes… today, is everyone's weekly sparring session." Emma informed the girls before telling everyone in the Gym to get ready to get ready.

"Alright! Everyone! Get dressed! We're going to warm-up with a few laps around the Gym before having elimination-style rounds! Get a move on!" Emma ordered with everyone chanting 'yes'.

Everyone began to head off towards the gender separated change rooms, although, there were a few guys who ended up going into the girls' change room to either sneak a few peeks or special considerations as not all guys were into girls.

However, as the Detectives of pretty girls headed towards the change room, Mai who was still nervous around seeing other girls undressing stood around for a while, so she was able to notice that Ragna didn't bother to go to the changing rooms.

"Hey Ragna, aren't you going to change into your P.E gear?" Mai asked him.

Ragna shrugged her off, "Nah, I don't need to, I just have to lose the shirt and that's that." He told her as he took his black long-sleeved button shirt off, leaving nothing but his red and black singlet that he normally wore and his black Hakama.

Mai blinked and sighed in envy.

"Huh? What's up with you?" Ragna questioned Mai's sudden mood dip.

Mai replied, "Oh nothing! I'm just a little envious of you guys, you don't have as much 'maintenance' about getting ready. Us girls have to worry about our hair, specific clothes and support for our…"

Ragna stopped her right there.

"Woah! Woah, whoa! Stop, that's too much information and ah… shouldn't you be getting ready?" Ragna reminded her.

Mai shot up and told him, "Oh! Right! Sorry for bothering you! I gotta go!" Mai ran into the girls' change rooms.

Ragna scratched his head as he stared at Mai running. He noted that the way she ran wasn't feminine like how the other girls ran.

"What a weird girl…" Ragna mused as he did his stretches and moved his legs around a bit.

As he was stretching, Emma cleared her throat to get his attention.

"Ahem! Excuse me Ragna, but why aren't you wearing the P.E gear? Before you say you weren't given one, it should have been placed in your dorm closet." Emma asked with a tone that meant she didn't take shit of anyone.

Ragna looked at her with a glare and gruffy said, "Well I didn't want to wear that shit, it's so… bright and stuffy."

Emma narrowed her eyes, "Whether you want to wear it or not. It's the rules. Either you get it now, or don't participate in class." She warned him.

Ragna looked hard at her before giving it up for his actual reason.

"Alright, alright! I'll tell you why I'm not wearing it. The stuff I'm wearing is to pay respects to the ones who took care of me when I didn't have much. So yeah… I'm not sure if that's a valid reason, but I want to respect where I came from." Ragna confessed.

Emma thought about it for a while making Ragna sweat internally.

Emma nodded, "I see… if it's some sort of family religious or tradition, then the school cannot interfere. But do tell the Academy head office for that later, just to avoid complications." She ended with a piece of advice.

Ragna nodded, "Okay… that was easier than I thought, but thanks Miss." He told her.

Emma told him not to mention it, but then she saw that Ragna was about to start running.

"Ragna! Everyone runs together! In the NOL, we work together! Never alone, unless it's for special circumstances." Emma advised him.

Ragna clicked his tongue. So much for getting shit done early. Instead, he opted for just walking back and forth as he waited for everyone to finish changing. So far, most of the guys had finished dressing up and he even saw a few girls talking with some of the guys, he presumed maybe their boyfriends or cousins.

Either way, he was quite bored with just waiting for the girls he hangs out with to come out. So, he decided to eavesdrop on a few interesting conversations.

"Hey man! Did you hear about the story of the girl who died in the Library?" A random guy asked his friend.

Ragna blinked, 'People die here?'

The other guy began to nod, "Yeah! It's said that she was locked in the Library over the weekend and died of thirst."

One of the girls who was chilling with them continued, "And legend says that if you go there at night, you can hear and maybe even see her ghost lurking around the Library door, waiting for someone to rescue her." She ended with a spooky after tone.

Ragna turned pale and immediately walked the other way.

'Ghost!? Screw that!' Ragna told himself as he walked away to find another conversation. Which, fortunately for him, he found one that wasn't just interesting, but quite important to him.

"So, you're saying that somewhere in this city, a Grimoire that's said to be able to piece anything, not even the greatest shield Ars can block it. Is just lying around somewhere waiting to be discovered again?" A girl with glasses asked her friend.

The guy nodded with great enthusiasm, "Yeah! And there's great evidence that it's real! I overheard some of the guys on patrol report in that an area on level 9 had its barrier Ars disabled due to some external force! If I could get it, then just imagine how much of our Ars attack would break through!" the guy told her.

The girl sighed, "How do you even know that they were even talking about the Grimoire?" The guy just told her, "They did mention something about a mass concentration of Seithr. Something only Grimoires."

Ragna kept one eye on them as he listened to them.

'Level 9 huh? Guess I'll check it out when I can…' Ragna told himself.

"Ragna! Over here buddy!" Makoto came running towards him.

Ragna looked over in her direction and spotted Makoto, Tsubaki and Noel all dressed up in their P.E gear. It consisted of a white T-shirt with blue trimmings, long white ankle socks worn beneath their white running shoes but… the thing that stood out the most to Ragna were the fact they were wearing bloomers which ended up showing a lot of legs. Ragna then took a double take and looked around.

All the girls were wearing bloomers.

"The hell?" Ragna questioned loud enough for Makoto and the other two to hear.

"Hey, what's wrong Ragna? Something the matter with you?" Makoto asked worried she upset him again.

Ragna shook his head, "What, no! I… uh just, aren't you guys cold?" he questioned the attire in the least perverted way he could.

Makoto answered, "This? Oh! It's nothing! I mean, we're going to be running and all that right? Don't you just like the feeling of the wind kissing your skin, letting your sweat just drip off you? I love that feeling!"

Tsubaki on the other hand answered, "I for one, don't mind getting a little sweaty, but as for the uniform, it's easy to move in and it keeps me cool."

Noel then joined in and told everyone, "I don't get how you guys can enjoy running around so much! I can barely keep up with any of you." She admitted.

Makoto encouraged Noel, "Don't you worry Noellers! Just keep running each day, eventually you'll be able to complete a full circuit. Not enough to beat me, but close." She told Noel.

Noel smiled, "Aw! Thanks Makoto!"

Tsubaki told her, "Well, what matters is that we're together and we can enjoy ourselves. An occasional break from studying isn't too bad." She told them.

Ragna was just staring at them, well maybe a little lower than face-level.

'They're… bigger than I thought… as for Noel… yeah, don't want to go there.' He told himself.

"Hey Ragna, what are you gazing off into?" Tsubaki asked him. Ragna quickly covered for himself.

"No! I was just thinking about how you girls can handle the cold so well, that's all! I mean, I can barely handle a few seconds without my pants." Ragna half-lied.

The trio of girls blinked for a second before beaming.

"Well, I guess us girls are tougher than we look!" Noel shined.

Tsubaki also joined in, "Well, we certainly aren't defenceless, I mean, we can handle ourselves." She told him.

Makoto pumped her fist into the air, "Heck yeah Girls! We're tougher than any guys around here! Give it up for Remix Heart!" she cheered.

Ragna just blankly stared at them and said, "I don't doubt that…"

Whilst the girls were chatting amongst themselves, Ragna asked them, "Hey, when are Kajun, Mai and that short girl coming? They have been taking a while."

Noel took front, "Oh! Kajun said something about helping Mai do her… *ahem*… 'straps' since Mai doesn't know how to do it herself."

Ragna looked confused, "Straps? The hell is that?" he questioned.

Tsubaki took over and told him, "Things that guys don't need to know, hehehe. Oh! I think that's them over there. Kajun! Mai!" she called them over.

"Hello again everyone, sorry we took a while, but we were looking for Shiori who disappeared on us in there." Kajun informed them.

A few gasps from the girls came forth and they already began to worry.

"Really? But class is just starting." Noel worried about the new girl.

Tsubaki told her to settle down.

"It's no big deal Noel, don't any of you remember that she told us about her sickness? Maybe it acted up again?" Tsubaki theorised.

Makoto, Noel and Kajun both smiled and nodded. That could be the case.

However, Mai was shaking in her knees in fear that maybe Shiori was taking this as an opportunity to assassinate Jin and began to overthink about all different kinds of possibilities.

But before her thoughts could run even more amok. A rough shaking brought forth from Ragna's left arm caused her to snap back to reality.

"Hey, Mai. You're spacing out, what's the matter with you?" Ragna asked her with his red eye shut.

Mai spluttered before forming a coherent sentence.

"I-I-I was just worried about Jin! You know, that girl Shiori could be trying to… uh…" Mai stopped as she realised she revealed too much information to Ragna.

Instead of flipping out and screaming for everyone to head towards Jin's room. He just told her.

"Oh her… don't worry about it. Jin will be fine." Ragna replied nonchalantly.

Mai's eyes widened at how little concern he showed for Jin's potential death.

"R-Ragna, how could you just…" But Ragna cut her off.

"Knowing that guy, he'd be way too stubborn to die… he's annoying like that." Ragna reassured her.

This made Mai nod and let out a breath of relief. Of course, when she was still a guy, she learnt that Jin was much too headstrong to be hindered by anyone.

However, this made another question pop up in her head.

"Wait a sec Ragna, but you've never met…" Mai tried to ask but Emma already called for everyone to start running.

"Alright everyone! Give me 5 laps now!" Emma ordered all the students in the Gym who all began to start running.

Mai began running and made her way to the front eventually as she was more athletic than other people.

By her sides, there was Makoto who was humming a tune as she was 'running', for the Squirrel girl, this was nothing but a slow jog.

'Wow! Seriously!? How does Makoto even do this so easily?' Mai wondered, despite her physical capabilities, she still paled in comparison to Makoto.

Then by her right side was Ragna who looked pretty bored. He wasn't even sweating yet, let alone breathing any harder.

Mai also thought, 'Even Ragna isn't fazed by this at all! Is he on something?'

Whilst they were running at the front of the pack, the other three girls were falling short.

"H-Hey! Makoto! Mai! Ragna! S-Slow *huff* down!" Noel called out to them.

Tsubaki who was fairing little better than Noel remined them, "Hey you three! This is *huff* only a warm-up!"

Kajun however, seemed not able to even speak at all and just did her best to keep up with Tsubaki and Noel.

Makoto however, spun around and stuck her tongue out at them.

"Nan Nah Nana Nah! Just try to keep up with me! Oh! Hey Mai! Hey Ragna!" Makoto asked them.

Mai who begun to breath heavy managed to nod in acknowledgement.

Ragna however, waved at her and replied, "Hey Makoto, you seem to be enjoying yourself."

Makoto beamed, "Heck Yeah! This is my favourite class of them all! Say Ragna… want to ditch these slowpokes with me?" she asked.

Ragna raised an eyebrow whilst Mai paled, "Y-You're *breathe* not serious are you!?" she questioned her sanity.

Ragna however, shrugged, "Yeah why not!? This is boring anyway, might as well finish first." He began to lean forward a bit more.

Makoto grinned, "Alright! Get setty! GO!" Makoto shouted as she run off into a blur.

Ragna's eyes widened and he screamed, "Hey! Not even a countdown! Wait up!" before doing the same thing she did.

As Makoto's and Ragna's blurring masses already made it passed the 100-metre mark. Mai began to slow down until she was besides Tsubaki, Noel and a rather tired Kajun.

"Are you girls seeing this?" Mai asked.

They all nodded, "I… *breathe* can't believe there's *huff* someone who can keep up with Makoto…" Tsubaki's blue eyes remained wide.

Noel looked on and also said, "*Breathe* How can they *huff* run so fast?" she wondered out loud.

Kajun who managed to catch her breath said, "W-Well… *Huff* this is *breathe* some…thing to look *wheeze* into…" Kajun said.

Mai laughed half-heartedly at Kajun, "Kajun, maybe it's best for you to not talk whilst running…" she suggested.

As the group turned the first corner, they all heard a whizzing sound pass by them.

Mouths were agape as the group of students ran.

"They're already on *breathe* their second *wheeze* lap!?" Tsubaki shouted.

Mai just watched and listened to the things that could be heard from the sprinting duo.

"HAHAHA! You're pretty good~! Ragna! Hehehe~" Makoto told him.

Ragna responded, "And you're way too fast!"

"Says the guy who's currently in the lead! But not for long!" Makoto told her as she began to pump her arms and kick her feet back harder.

Ragna in kind did the same, "Really!? Okay then… I'm through with going easy on you! ARRRGGHHH!" Ragna screamed as he struggled to gain more speed.

As Mai watched them running as fast as they could, she noted the happy cheers from Makoto and the slight bit of enjoyment in Ragna's crude remarks.

Mai smiled at them, "They look like they're having fun…" she said quietly.

As she pondered on that thought, Mai took a deep breath… well… as deep as one running could.

"Hey girls! Let's do our best too!" Mai encouraged as she began to run much quicker.

"H-Hey Mai! What's up with you!? *Huff* You weren't this energetic before!?" Noel cried.

"Oh nothing! Just watching those two made me feel so much better for some reason!" Mai said as she made to finish her first lap.

The three girls who were left behind looked at each other before shrugging.

"Well… why not!? Hey! We're coming too Mai!" Tsubaki called as she along with Noel and Kajun ran faster too.

Emma was observing the group, but more specifically, the Remix Heart members, including Ragna.

'Interesting… they're never this energetic when doing this class… Especially Mai, she never tried to run this fast before… I wonder if it has something to do with Ragna?' Emma pondered as she looked at the now sweating mess that was still speeding through his fourth lap.

'You might just be what that girl needs.' Emma smiled.

Eventually, the entire class managed to finish their five laps.

The majority of the class looked like they had been stranded in the desert sun for days.

As for Mai, she wiped the sweat off her forehead with her hand before taking a huge gulp of water from a bottle she brought with her.

"Uwuah! Man! That was fun! Right girls!" Mai turned to face Tsubaki who was sat on her knees trying to catch her breath.

Noel who was struggling to stay on her feet whilst breathing heavily. As for Kajun, she was using some kind of breathing device to allow more oxygen into her system.

Mai laughed a little nervously, "I guess… not huh?" she said.

Kajun finally finished taking her breath of air, "I'm *huff* never running *breathe* like that again…" she cursed sports.

Tsubaki dusted her legs off before standing, "But *breathe* hehehe! We did have fun, right Noel?"

Noel who was slightly doing better than Tsubaki nodded with a winning smile, "Yeah! I didn't think running that fast could be so fun!" she cheered.

Then their furry companion jumped into their little celebration.

"What did I say!? Running as fast as you can is always fun! Just ask Ragna behind me!" she told them as she points her thumb behind her.

They looked towards Ragna who was scratching his head again. Was that some signature of his?

"Yeah, it was fun alright! Heck! I didn't think anyone at this school could even keep up with me, let alone beat me!" Ragna grinned.

Makoto then cheered, "Well you've met you're match sir! Come challenge me again when you're faster." She told him.

Ragna raised an eyebrow, but still smiled none the less, "Heh! Maybe I will." He answered.

Ragna then looked behind Makoto and saw Tsubaki, Noel and Kajun out of it. He turned to Mai.

"Hey Mai, what's up with those three? It looks like somebody kick the wind of them." Ragna commented.

Mai giggled and told him "They're just not used to running that fast in that amount. Usually, me and Makoto would have to have them ride on our backs just to get them through the laps!"

Ragna guffawed "You're shitting me!?"

Mai shook her head, "Nope! I'm not kidding! Just ask Makoto about it." She insisted.

"Yep! Noel and Tsubaki were sound asleep like little babies cuddling up in my tail~" Makoto recalled.

Then Noel spoke up, "Makoto~ Let me put my head in your tail for just a bit~" she told Makoto as she snuggled into Makoto's tail.

Tsubaki then followed suit, "Sorry Makoto, but I'd like to do that too~" she warned her as she crashed into Makoto's tail.

Mai grinned at Ragna whose eyes looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets.

"See." Mai told him.

Ragna sobered himself up when Mai said that and gave Mai a quick warning.

"Hey Mai! You might wanna get out of the wayyyy… nevermind, I'm too late." Ragna ended lamely when Kajun leaped into Mai's embrace.

"Wu-Wah!? Kajun!? What are you doing!?" Mai questioned her. Kajun just snuggled her face into Mai's bossom making the said girl flush.

"Oh! I'm just resting my head back where it finds recluse~ Mmmm~ So soft and fluffy~" Kajun commented.

Mai tried to pry Kajun off, "K-Kajun! Not out here!" she pleaded.

Then she looked to Ragna for help.

"Ragna, you have to help me. Please!" Mai wailed.

Ragna's eye were glued to the scene and when Mai asked for help, he replied.

"A part of me wants to see how this will end, but… okay. Kajun let her go." Ragna told the purple haired girl.

"Hm… Okay! For now, I'll let her go, since I still have until later to snuggle into her." Kajun smirked.

Mai's face burned and Ragna turned a shade pink.

"And I'm guessing it's something worth experiencing, but never mind me! Now what were we all meant to be doing again?" Ragna asked Mai who was still flushing.

"Well Uh…?" Mai tried to say something, however, Emma's voice drowned out any talking from the students.

"Alright everybody! It's time for sparring! First up is…" Emma began to call pairs of students to fight.

Ragna along with the group of girls were watching them with the former sporting a frown that said 'disappointing'.

"Is this seriously a fight?" Ragna muttered lowly as he watched two male students throwing wild punches forgetting all about form and strategy alongside some Armagus that got a few reactions from Noel and Tsubaki.

"Wow~ That fissure beam was fast!" Tsubaki commented. Noel nodded but a little scared, "Oh! I hope no one hurts each other too much~" she expressed her concern for everyone.

Ragna yawned getting Mai's attention, "Are you really that bored Ragna?" she asked.

Ragna raised an eyebrow, "Bored? I'm getting sleepy from watching them hump each other." He told Mai.

Mai and Kajun who was standing besides her giggled at his comment.

"Now, now! Isn't that a little much to say Ragna?" Kajun asked him.

Ragna pointed at the two fighting, "I'm not even kidding! Doesn't that look a little… like they're…. how do I put this? Trying to show their 'appreciation' for each other?" he tried to describe the 'fight' that now consisted of clinching and hip thrusts.

Mai laughed heartily whilst Kajun giggled some more.

"I can't disagree with you on that actually! That guy over there could have tripped him by now and scored a win." Mai informed him.

Ragna nodded, "That's right, man… you sure know your stuff… do you practise fighting or something?"

Mai nodded and told him, "Yeah, I do! It's something that my family practised for a long time…" as she mentioned her family, she started to become a little depressed.

Ragna caught this and asked, "Is something wrong Mai?"

Mai looked up and gave him a slight smile, 'Oh nothing, it's just I… never mind. Let's continue watching." Mai changed the subject.

Ragna narrowed his eyes harshly but looked back at the fights.

'Well… if she doesn't want to talk about it, then I won't bother asking…' he told himself as he listened for the name call.

"Makoto Nanaya and Christopher Redford! Come up now!" Emma called.

Makoto pumped her fist up and yelled as she jumped forward, "Alright! It's my turn to kick some butts! Ready when you are!" Makoto told her opponent before bobbing up and down with her arms raised.

Christopher swallowed a huge gulp of saliva, everyone in the Academy knew of Makoto's fearsome strength and due to that, Makoto was regularly paired up against people from the College level.

Christopher summoned a pair of dual tomahawks before charging in with a heavy double coupe de grace.

However, as usual, Makoto slightly pulled back her fists before driving her entire bodyweight into the poor guy who got pushed back so far that he made a perfect imprint on the wall of the Gym.

Makoto winded her arms back and forth whilst grinning, "Who's next!?" she wondered.

Everyone who had already fought immediately wanted to drop out from the spars. No one wanted to be paired up against Makoto.

Emma looked on hard and her eyes settled on the few people who haven't fought yet. There was Ragna, Mai, Tsubaki and Noel.

"Alright, Ragna Mitsuyoshi! You're up against Makoto! Whoever wins, that's who you're fighting Mai!" Emma announced, at this Mai jumped up a little startled whilst others perked up.

The new student who wiped the floor with one of the Academy's best against Makoto, the hardest hitter in the Academy.

Makoto grinned, "Alright! I get to fight you! I've always wanted a piece of ya since you smacked Kazaki silly!"

Ragna walked up and cracked his neck a few times, "Yeah well, from what I heard from your friends, you're pretty damn strong. Let's see what you got Squirrel." He told Makoto whilst he straightened his posture with his arms relaxed.

Makoto got back into her fighting stance.

"Bring it buddy!" Makoto taunted.

Ragna shrugged, "Alright, here goes." He began the attack.

He dashed forward with his left fist extended which was meant to collide with Makoto's face.

However, Makoto ducked and readied an uppercut, "Too wide~" she said as she shot her blow.

Ragna used the momentum of his attack to twirl around Makoto's uppercut before trying to use a spinning roundhouse to knock Makoto away.

Makoto however, bounced away performing a few summersaults.

Makoto's bouncing however, made her chest bounce as well, which caused Ragna to stare a little.

'Woah! She's big…' Ragna didn't get to finish that thought as he comically leaned back to avoid Makoto straight punch.

"Hey buddy! Eyes up here! I caught you staring!" Makoto accused.

Ragna recovered and flailed, "W-Wh-What!? You got it all wrong! I wasn't staring, I swear!" However, this just made Makoto dash forward, Ragna tried sending a jab thinking that she'd just be in front of him. Instead, Makoto was up in the air the whole time and what Ragna hit was a mirage.

"Huh? What, ow!" Ragna got slugged on the top of his head.

Makoto grinned, "I got a hit on you! Now it's time for Squirrel Power!" she began to glow whilst rushing Ragna.

Ragna took a step back, "Okay then… Just one thing Makoto…" he began.

Makoto charged and thrust her right fist forward hoping to blow Ragna away.

However, Ragna got down on the ground and swept her off her feet.

Makoto's eyes went wide as she began to fall forward but was send backwards when Ragna delivered a left uppercut into her gut knocking the wind out of her.

But he wasn't done yet, Ragna then flipped himself over to then end the fight with an Ax kick that was covered in some dark coloured mist.

It pushed Makoto onto her back roughly, but Ragna stopped the kick short so he didn't do any permanent damage.

Once he was sure Makoto wasn't going to retaliate, he told her, "You might want to watch your feet, it was pretty easy to get you there."

Makoto nodded dumbly, Ragna offered her a helping hand which she accepted gratefully. When she stood up she gave him a huge grin, "Oh man! I never thought I would have lost! You're really something, you know that Ragna?" she complimented.

Ragna scratched his head, "I could say the same to you, you hit way too hard! Now I have a frigging huge ass headache…" he complained.

Makoto gave him a smack where she hit him earlier, "You'll be fine! You get better in no time!"

Ragna however, was paralysed for a while, "Ouch! Don't hit me there again you little…"

Makoto smirked mischievously, "That's what you get for being a perv~"

Ragna spluttered as his faced burned, "I'm telling you! I didn't look!" he tried to tell her.

"He's all yours Mai! Give him a good thrashing will ya? I already did some damage to make it easier." Makoto told Mai.

Mai stepped forward with a stride, "I'll do my best!"

When Ragna heard that, he questioned harshly, "That's why you hit me again!?"

As Ragna rubbed his head, Mai took her time to ready herself into her stance and raised one arm in front of herself whilst the other was left resting behind. Her feet were also wider than shoulder-width apart.

Mai took a deep breath and calmed herself before looking straight at Ragna who was still rubbing his sore head.

"Ready when you are."

Ragna looked at her before settling into his straight postured stance, "Alright Mai, lets see what you got." He replied as he swiped his hands through his hair.

Emma began the timer, "SPAR!"

Ragna and Mai stared at each other for a while, both looking for openings to exploit. The lack of action was getting to the audience, however, Ragna having a short fuse and little patience broke the silence.

"This is getting nowhere. Take this!" Ragna leaped forward at Mai with a haymaker.

Mai smirked at his action as she found many wide openings in his attack. As Ragna's fist threatened to make contact with her head, she moved beneath it and grabbed his arm whilst pushing her upper back into him. Mai had thrown Ragna's body over her shoulder and now he was on a one-way course towards the ground.

But as expected, Ragna cartwheeled with his right arm and stood back up facing her.

Ragna glared a bit but sprinted towards her this time.

Mai took a step back to ready herself to use a leg sweep against Ragna. As he came closer, he threw a left jab towards her upper body which Mai was hoping her.

She got down on the floor and used a leg sweep as an attempt throw him off balance. However, this attempt failed as Ragna jumped up at the right moment to dodge her attack.

As Mai rose to her feet, Ragna threw a few left jabs at her whilst he descended landing a few on her shoulders and head.

Mai hissed at the pain but powered through and forced herself to turn to face him. She was grateful she did because Ragna was about to land a kick on her body, prompting her to bring up a barrier to block it.

As Ragna's kick made contact with the barrier, he was pushed back slightly giving both some breathing room. Since Ragna knew he had the reach advantage, he sent a right spinning thrust kick just to land a decent blow.

But Mai dashed forward whilst keeping her right elbow tucked in to keep Ragna's right leg on the outside; she pushed her elbow behind his knee. Then she grabbed his leg and performed a spinning elbow strike to the back of his skull.

Ragna rolled forward to reduce the force and whilst he was still in range, he swept Mai off her feet to buy himself some recovery time.

The audience watching Ragna's and Mai's spar were all captivated by what they saw.

"Wow! I never knew that Mai was this good!" Noel's eyes sparkled as they remained glued to the sparring session.

Tsubaki nodded, "Agreed! Though I wonder why she never fought like this before?"

Kajun added to her comment, "That's right, she never tried to fight this hard before when we had sparring sessions. What could have brought this out of her?"

Makoto flushed out their questioned, "Oh! Who cares! What matters is that Mai's kicking some ass out there! Go get him girl!" she cheered Mai on.

With Ragna and Mai, Ragna could hear Makoto's cheers for his opponent.

"Wow… Talk about loyalty… where's my cheers?" Ragna pointed out.

Mai smiled at his comment, "Don't worry about her, let's just keep doing our best. By the way, if you don't start taking me seriously, you're not going to get off easily." She told him.

Ragna replied, "So you noticed… I wouldn't want to go all out against you, but if it makes you feel better… here goes nothing."

Ragna then moved faster than Mai could blink.

"Huh?" Mai was taken by surprise at Ragna's sudden increase in speed.

Ragna delivered a light uppercut to her jaw that made her go up in the air slightly. Then he delivered a front kick to her stomach to push her back and to finish the match, he pushed her down with his hand.

Ragna's stared hard into her eyes whilst he had her down on the ground.

"That enough for you?" Ragna questioned her.

Mai smiled, "You win. I knew you could have ended it sooner." She replied.

Then Emma came up and announced Ragna as the winner.

"Congratulations Ragna Mitsuyoshi. You're the winner… but may I advise that it's probably not very… conventional to grab at your opponent's chest." Emma advised him.

Ragna blinked a few times before he looked down to where his hand was. His eyes went wide, and his face became as red as Tsubaki's hair. His left hand was squishing Mai's right orb.

Ragna quickly got himself off her and apologised.

"Holy shit! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to…" Ragna began apologising to the slightly red Mai.

She replied, "It's okay! I didn't realise it either! Don't sweat it man!" she assured him, Ragna blinked, "You took that pretty well." He noted.

Emma then told them to clear the stage.

"Alright, sparring sessions are over! We only have 10 minutes! Sorry Tsubaki and Noel, maybe next time… For now, use that time to train yourselves or relax!" Emma informed everybody.

Everyone cheered at that point as going through Combat lessons were always tiring. The few people who wanted to get stronger, immediately went to the part of the Gym where workout machines were stationed whilst others immediately went to use the showers in the change rooms.

As for Ragna and the pretty girls' detectives. They began to converse about the fight and make a few jokes here and there.

"Well done you two! You really outdid yourselves out there!" Tsubaki congratulated Ragna and Mai.

"Wow! I never knew you could fight like that Mai, you were amazing!" Noel told her.

Mai scratched her cheek in fluttery, "Haha! Thanks guys! But it was nothing!"

Makoto then joined in, "Well I for one have to say you two kick ass! You were both like tigers going RAAWR!" Makoto described them.

The girls laughed at Makoto's interpretation of the spar. It was at this point that Kajun decided to question Ragna.

"Besides the fight, tell me Ragna, how was it?" she smiled slyly as she edged closer to him.

Ragna looked confused, "How was what?" he asked.

"How was it copping a feel of Mai's breasts?" Kajun smirked at the red colour on Ragna's face.

"I-It was an accident! I didn't mean to do it!" Ragna put out his case.

Kajun closed her eyes whilst laughing, "Oh Ragna~ Don't be shy, you can tell me, how was it? Soft right?" she tittered.

Ragna was beet red and looked at Kajun before replying, "I well um…" he struggled to form an answer but Kajun let him off the hook.

"Don't look so scared, you don't have to tell me, I already know the answer." Kajun told him.

Ragna regained most of his complexion before turning to the other girls who were struggling not to laugh at him.

"If you girls are going to laugh, go ahead. I dare you…" he gave Tsubaki, Noel and Makoto a glare.

Tsubaki managed to suppress it before replying, "Oh don't be silly Ragna, an accident is an accident. I'm sure this will all blow over." She assured him.

Ragna took a good look at Makoto before saying quietly, "For some reason, I doubt that…"

As they group was talking, a violent shake throughout the Academy could be felt.

"What was that!?" Noel screamed.

"H-Hey, what's going on!? Is there an Earthquake or something!?" Makoto panicked.

The power shakes continued causing all the students to panic. Emma stepped up and told everyone to get on the ground.

As the students were all ushered into position. Mai took this opportunity to investigate.

"I'm going to have a look! You stay here and take care of the girls!" Mai told Ragna.

Ragna's eyes wide, he tried to call out to her, "H-Hey! Mai!"

But it was too late, she had already slipped passed many of the panicking students and through the door. As this was happening he had to wonder, 'How did the teacher not see her?'

Ragna looked at the girls for a few seconds and saw that they were already trying to calm the other students down.

Ragna deemed everything was under control and began to walk towards the door.

 **With Mai**

What was she doing? Is what Mai told herself. Why was she trying to play hero when she could have asked her friends to help her? Instead she had to tell Ragna to take care of the girls whilst she went to investigate the cause of the violent ground tremors.

Why did she decide to run of the Gym room? She thought that the tremors were possibly due to Shiori attacking Jin.

'Please tell me he's okay? If he's dead… Tsubaki will be torn up inside?' Mai thought to herself as she ran down the corridor.

Then she heard a distinct metallic sound from one of the halls to her left. She turned to face where the sound came from.

She saw Jin in his uniform, albeit, the jacket's sleeves were empty causing the jacket to fall over his waist. In his hands, he was wielding a long Katana.

"Jin? You're okay! Tsubaki will be…" Mai didn't finish her sentence when Jin slashed at her causing Mai to duck.

"J-Jin!? What are you doing!?" Mai asked.

Jin then fired off a huge burst of ice.

"The Black Beast must die!" Jin responded with a maniacal glee as the burst of ice broke through the High school buildings' walls.

Mai was lucky she set up a barrier to defend herself, but she did have a rough landing once she ended up end the pool area.

When Mai recovered, Jin was already upon her with his sword ready to slice her in half.

Mai couldn't move due to fear and began to recall all the times she had spent with her friends.

'This is the end…' she told herself morbidly.

But just before Jin's sword could cut her. Another person intervened and pushed Jin back.

"Hey Mai, you okay!?" Taro asked.

"T-Taro!?" Mai called out her saviour's name.

Taro however looked back at Jin and told Mai, "Careful Mai, Jin is really strong."

He threw a bunch of threads around Jin hoping to restrain him. However, Jin used his sword to cut in every direction rendering Taro's attack useless.

"Damn… he's way too strong." Taro commented on Jin's strength.

As Jin was about to launch an ice projectile towards Mai and Taro, a sudden gunshot chipped his shoulder causing everyone to look towards the newly formed hole in Jin's glacier.

There she was, Noel Vermillion was aiming both of her guns, Bolverk at Jin who glared menacingly at her.

'Noel!? What's she doing here? No, this is perfect! We have a chance at doing this!' Mai thought.

Mai began to run away from the group to another area.

"Mai! Where are you going!?" Taro asked.

Mai responded, "It's me he's after! I'll distract him whilst you two find an opening!"

Taro nodded and began to attack Jin alongside Noel's gun fire once more.

So far, they managed to slow him down and one of Taro's threads did manage to catch Jin's left arm.

"Got ya!" Taro exclaimed as he began t use the restraining Ars.

However, Jin turned the thread into ice before he shattered it.

"H-He froze it!? Wha!?" Taro looked up to see that Jin had launched a frost wave at him.

"Pointless obstacles!" Jin screamed bloody murder.

Mai and Noel's eyes were glued at the scene.

"TARO!" they both cried his name.

Taro closed his eyes waiting for the pain to come. Instead, he felt himself become lighter for a second and heard crystallisation far behind himself.

"Hey, you alright?" A gruff voice he heard earlier today asked him.

Taro opened his eyes to see Ragna looking at him.

"H-Hey, it's you! Ragna, what are you doing here?" Taro asked.

Ragna blinked, "Huh? Oh yeah! It's you again, anyway, I just saved you. For now, get everyone out of here, I'll take care of the rest." He ordered him.

Taro looked at Ragna as if he was insane, "That's impossible! You can't fight Jin on your own! Let us help you!"

Ragna gave him one look, "I'll be fine, this is something that I've been waiting to do for a long time…" he told him as he walked towards Jin who was still trying to cut down Mai.

Taro thought about his words, "What do you mean 'waiting'?" He shook his head and got back up.

'No time to think! I got to get the girls out of here!' Taro thought before he told Ragna.

"I'm counting on you!" Taro told him.

As Mai was frantically dodging Jin's attacks, she was beginning to become tired and a few slashes were coming even faster.

'Damn, I can't keep doing this! And Noel's shots aren't working on him anymore! What do we do?' she thought.

Jin formed an ice projectile large enough for himself to ride on as he directed it towards Mai.

"Die Black Beast!" Jin shouted.

However, a fist to the side of his face sent him flying towards the other end of the pool area.

"Hell's fang!" Ragna's voice boomed throughout the area.

Mai's and Noel's eyes widened.

"R-Ragna!" they both called out his name.

"You two, get the hell out of here now!" Ragna ordered.

"But, what about you!? You're not going to fight him alone!?" Mai asked.

Ragna shouted at her again, "I said get the hell out of here! Let me handle this!"

Mai flinched at the rough edge in his voice, she was about to deny his request until she felt Taro pulling her back.

"Mai, just leave him be, he says he can handle himself then believe in him." Taro told her.

Mai tried to say, "B-But…"

She looked towards Ragna again and saw he was emanating a black and red aura, the complete opposite of Jin's ice-cold aura.

From what she saw in Ragna's form, she couldn't see any sign of weakness nor hesitation. All she could see was pure determination like no other.

Mai turned to Taro and complied.

"Alright Taro, let's go get Noel and get out of here." Mai told him.

Taro smiled lightly before they both took off and got Noel.

"Wa-wait!? What about Ragna!?" Noel asked.

"He'll be fine Noel." Mai told her.

Noel gave her a puzzled look, "How can you be so sure?"

Mai replied, "I… saw a strength that I've never seen before in someone, I'm not sure how to explain it just that I know Ragna can't lose."

Taro and Noel were both puzzled by Mai, but chose to believe in Mai's assumption.

Taro then made a compromise, "Well, how about we watch from afar, I mean, we're out of the hot-zone for now, why not?"

Mai and Noel agreed, they could at least watch.

 **With Ragna and Jin**

Ragna gave Jin the darkest glare he could muster.

"Jin… it's been a while…" Ragna said.

Jin was twitching and spasming as he looked at Ragna in pure shock.

"B-brother…. Brother! Oh dear lord! Brother! Your alive! Bwuhahahahah! Oh thank goodness, you have no idea how much I missed you! Now I get to kill you again!" Jin spoke like a maniac.

Ragna closed his eyes and shook his head.

"I know that you're not really saying that Jin. It's just Yukianesa messing with your head and making you do all this shit." Ragna spat out before opening his eyes once more.

"God damn it Jin! You mind is not your own anymore! You're a slave to a god damned Nox Nyxtores! Wake the hell up Jin!" Ragna called out to his brother.

For a second Jin's maniacal personality dropped, "B-brother… you…"

But Jin began to laugh like a psychopath once more.

"You are so stupid Brother! I'm completely fine! I've really wanted to kill you again… to see that look of pain and agony on your face… You looked beautiful like that Brother." Jin said.

Ragna's glared increased in intensity, but the inside his heart broke a little bit more.

'Damn it Jin! I know you're stronger than this… you just need to wake up.' Ragna said in his mind.

"Alright then… have at me then, you little shit!" Ragna charged towards Jin with the latter doing the same.

Ragna leaped forward and delivered his haymaker.

"Gauntlet Hades!" Ragna shouted.

"Frost!" Jin swung Yukianesa up towards Ragna's Fist and knee combo neutralising each other's attacks.

They both slide behind each other before Jin launched a volley of ice projectiles.

Ragna countered this by wildly swing his right arm towards Jin to summon a massive head from the Black Beast to devour the ice projectiles.

"Dead Spike!" Ragna shouted the name of his attack.

As the black head loomed closer to Jin, he froze it along with the path it took before using it like a waterslide to quickly close the distance between them.

When Jin was close enough he performed an aerial spinning kick which Ragna pushed him back with a spinning roundhouse.

But Jin shot another ice projectile whilst he was landing.

Ragna was about to just dodge this one, but he found that his feet with frozen in place.

"Shit!" Ragna cursed as he brought up an Ars Barrier.

When he blocked it, Jin was already in front of Ragna with his sword in the Iai position.

Jin then began to rain a flurry of cuts upon his older brother.

"Urrggh!" Ragna cried in pain.

 **Up with Mai, Noel and Taro**

Noel and Mai cried Ragna's name, "Ragna!"

Taro put a hand of them both, "Hey! Calm down, he'll be fine! He's not down yet. Look he's getting up."

Mai and Noel looked back at them and saw that Taro was speaking the truth.

Ragna was now getting back up and crossing his arms together.

Just then, three more people arrived to spectate the fight.

"Mai! Noel! Taro! What's going on?" Tsubaki asked.

"Tsubaki? Makoto? Kajun? What are you guys doing here?" Mai asked.

Kajun told her, "Emma put us pretty girls' detectives up to the case. Now what's happening?" she asked.

Noel began to tell them, "Oh Tsubaki! Makoto! Kajun! Jin started to attack Mai suddenly and now he's fighting with Ragna!"

Tsubaki's eye went wide and she looked towards where Mai was looking at.

"No… why is Jin…? Oh lord! What happened to Ragna!?" Tsubaki covered her mouth at the sight of Ragna's body covered in deep cuts.

Makoto screamed, "Oh my gosh! He looks like a bunch of ribbons!"

Kajun brought a handkerchief to cover her nausea and said her part, "I can see inside of him…" she described Ragna's physical condition.

Tsubaki let out a few tears as she watched and faintly heard Jin laugh like a psychotic maniac as he delivered countless cuts upon Ragna.

"That can't be Jin… No… Please stop…" Tsubaki pleaded silently.

Noel and Makoto both reached for their redheaded friend and gave her comfort.

"Don't worry Tsubaki, everything will be alright." Noel told her.

Tsubaki looked up, "But…"

Makoto intervened, "Not another word, besides, look at Ragna now, he's seems to be doing something."

Everyone looked back at the fight and watched what unfolded.

 **At the pool area, Ragna and Jin**

Jin began to laugh to his heart's content as he stopped cutting down his older brother.

"What's wrong Brother? Is that it? How disappointing, I expected more!" Jin grinned at Ragna.

Ragna opened his eyes and glared at Jin before saying.

"Damn you, Yukianesa… I had ENOUGH!" Ragna swung both his cross arms apart and began to unleash massive amounts of seithr in the form of black and red waves. All the injuries that Ragna had sustained were now gone since the surge of power supercharged his healing, he was as good as new.

The pressure Ragna unleashed was enough to be felt by the girls and Taro who were all observing from afar.

"A-Amazing… I'm glad he never used his right arm on me." Makoto commented.

The girls and Taro nodded in agreement at Ragna's power.

Kajun however narrowed her eyes on Ragna with suspicion.

Back to Ragna and Jin. The latter began to smile like a little kid with a brand new toy.

"Yes, YES! This is what I wanted Brother! All you attention, all your power towards me!" Jin exclaimed.

Ragna finished powering up and appeared in front of Jin.

Jin took a step back before slicing at him, but Ragna was already underneath him and he smashed Jin high into the air.

Jin jaw hurt like hell, but he didn't have time to think about anything when Ragna was already up in the air with him.

"Wake!" Ragna drove his knee into Jin's sternum which caused his back to arc.

"The hell!" Ragna delivered an Azure powered Ax Kick which sent Jin straight into the frozen pool. When he landed, all the ice shattered like glass.

Ragna then dived forward and landed his knee into Jin's gut just for good measure.

"UP!" Ragna screamed in Jin's face.

Due to the ferocious attack Ragna landed. Jin spat out enough blood to shoot out a fountain.

Ragna pushed himself off his little brother and stared down at him.

Once Jin finished puking his own blood, he told Ragna, "Brother… you beat me… why don't you finish it?" Jin asked.

Ragna scrowled at him and told him, "I don't want to kill you … we have a lot of things to talk about… but right now, you're just Yukianesa's bitch, if Jin wants to fight, then he'll have to fight me like a man."

Ragna then walked away from the area leaving his brother to lay there and think about his words.

Jin smiled to himself whilst chuckling once more, "Hehehe, oh brother… you are so foolish…" he said before he gave in to the pain.

 **With Ragna**

Ragna continued to walk along with halls of the corridor as he paid no mind to the people who happened to see what had unfolded.

"Did you see that? He bet Jin Kisaragi, the honour student." Someone whispered to another person.

Comments like these were thrown around all over, but he ignored it as he had a huge headache to deal with.

'Jin…' Ragna thought sombrely

He began to recall good times when Jin was not the little shit he was now. But rather a little boy who feared the moon would fall on him and would seek his brother for 'protection'.

 _Flashback_

 _When Ragna was 12 years old, he was in the middle of helping the Sister hang up the laundry and listening to her hold a tune, it always brought Ragna a sense of peace and hope._

" _Yoru wa~ Unmei o sasou iro~ Hoshi wa~ Omoide o nosete, mau yo~_

 _Soshite~ Kirameki kayagaki~ Kokoro tsutsumu, Stardust days~"_

 _The sister sang._

 _Ragna worked harmoniously with her tune._

 _However, the harmony gave way to the giggles and cheers of two kids who brightened up his days all the time._

" _Brother! We're back!" Saya called._

 _The sister welcomed them, "Welcome back Saya and Jin, I hope you two had fun._

 _Ragna looked towards his 8 year old brother and his 6 year sister, "Oh, Jin, Saya! You're back! What did you two get up to?"_

 _Jin took front, "Well... you see, you always do so much for us that we wanted to do something for you."_

 _Jin and Saya revealed the contents of the basket they took with them._

 _Ragna's eyes went wide at the number of wild berries they picked up. Not only that, they also had some freshly milled flour and other things._

" _We wanted to bake a cake for you!" Saya cheered._

 _Ragna smiled at his siblings, "Guys, that's nice and all, but it's not even my birthday…"_

 _The sister interrupted, "Don't be shy Ragna, they wanted to thank you! Shouldn't you be happy?"_

 _Ragna replied, "I am happy! But I…" then he looked at his siblings faces who all smiled at him._

 _Ragna eventually gave in, "Alright! Jin, you can make the batter with me, Saya, you can mash the berries. Don't you dare add anything to it." Ragna gave her a look._

 _Saya cheered, "I won't!"_

 _Jin beamed, "Okay! Let's start making Brother's cake!"_

 _Cheers could be heard, and a ruckus resounded throughout the church._

 _Flashback end._

Ragna recalled that day so well, he literally thought he went back in time whenever he dreamed of it.

However, he was snapped out of his musing when he heard a few people call out to him.

"Ragna! Are you alright!?" Noel asked him with worry evident in her voice.

Ragna told her, "I'm fine. I just have a huge headache."

Makoto came up and denied that claim, "Nah Uh! We could see inside of you! You can't be fine!"

Ragna began to become annoyed, "I'm fine! Just look, no more cuts or any other injury. Besides, the one you should be worried about is Jin. That ass hat isn't going to be moving any time soon."

Tsubaki gasped and asked, "Oh yeah, Jin! He's hurt too, we need to get him and you to the infirmary now!"

Ragna wanted to decline but Mai stepped in, "Come on Ragna, you just had a rough fight, just get to the infirmary and take a break. You'll have time to think."

Ragna saw her logic and was about to decline until Taro came up, "Hey man! I'm hurt too, and I don't really want to be left with no one to talk too whilst I'm in the infirmary."

Ragna was cornered with no way out and he didn't want to lash out like last time.

"As long as I'm not with that piece of shit I just fought, then I'll go." Ragna told them.

The girls finally smiled at him, but Taro then mentioned, "But, who's going to look after Jin?"

Tsubaki immediately volunteered, "I will! I'll be by his side for as long as it takes!"

Makoto then clapped her hands, "That settles it! Come one Ragna, follow Taro to the infirmary and take a break! You earned it pal!"

As Ragna begrudgingly followed Taro, Mai told him, "Get well soon Ragna, I'll come visit you as well."

Ragna nodded, "Thanks, but you don't have to."

Mai refuted that, "No, I do. After all, you're my partner for the Ars Magus Assessment." She argued.

Ragna sighed, "Ugh! I forgot about that fricking homework!" he lamented the assessment.

Mai giggled, "Getting senile already?"

Ragna told her, "Piss off." In a light humorous tone.

Mai laughed, and the girls looked happily at Ragna after his response to Mai's playful taunt.

"Well somehow, you cheered him up Mai." Makoto told her.

Mai smiled at her friends, "I'm not sure what I did, but I'm glad it worked!"

Noel then giggled slightly and said, "I feel like something might happen between you two!"

Mai turned red and denied it, "What!? What do you mean!? It's not like that Noel!"

Tsubaki then added, "She never mentioned what she thinks will happen between you two."

Mai's face burned whilst the girls giggled at her.

"You girls know what she was implying~ Anyway, where's Kajun?" Mai asked.

When Mai asked that question. The girls began to look around for her.

"Weird… she was here only a few moments ago…" Makoto said.

 **In a dark room**

As to where their purple-haired friend went.

She was currently on the phone with someone to relay her findings.

"Yes Professor, the massive spike in the presence of the Azure skyrocketed, correct?" Kajun asked for confirmation.

The professor took her lollipop out and answered, "Yeah, that's right Kajun. Whatever happened over where you are caused massive reading on the charts. It goddamn near broke my computers!"

Kajun looked deep in thought about this before she decided to add.

"Professor Kokonoe, I may add that the new student who I mentioned earlier today had engaged Jin Kisaragi in combat. He displayed combat abilities far beyond anyone in his years."

Professor Kokonoe's eyebrows shot up and she wondered, "The new student? Who was tis it again? Rague? Rugs? Or whatever the hell his frigging name is?" she asked.

Kajun undeterred by her cursing simply responded, "His name is Ragna Mitsuyoshi Professor. He came to this school yesterday and performed feats far beyond the normal human being such as recovering from being cut apart by the Nox Nyctores: Yukianesa."

Kokonoe looked deep in her thoughts, "Mitsuyoshi? Could he be… nevermind! Anyway, Kajun, I want you to keep an eye on this Ragna will ya? I think the high levels of Azure presence and this signal may have something to do with him. Now get a move on!" she told her.

"Affirmitive. Kajun out." Kajun dismissed herself.

Kajun then began to make her way back to her friends.

"Ragna? Just who are you really?" Kajun began to talk to herself.

 **At Sector 7**

As Kokonoe slammed her hands on her computer. She began to growl at the new student's last name.

"Mitsuyoshi… no it couldn't be. Many other less important shitheads could have the same name as my shitty old man.

More importantly… looks like I might be in luck, the possibility of the Burning Red being at the Academy and now, we got the presence of the Azure Grimoire there as well. Just when I thought I had no need for birthday presents."

Kokonoe smirked to herself as she began to run diagnostics and tests over the Academy city.

* * *

 **Like I told you... really, really long chapter!**

 **Sorry for wasting your time.**

 **Have a good one!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Blazblue: A Delightful Sensation**

* * *

 **So... did anyone miss this story?**

 **Well, yeah sorry about the delay. I been studying Games Programming for the past half-year and I love it!**

 **Learnt more about C++ programming there than I did in Uni!**

 **Review Responses:**

 **Yes... I know... how did no one hear Jin call Ragna "Brother!"?**

 **Well, don't worry, I explained briefly in this chapter. Oh don't worry, you people will see it.**

 **Freaking hell guys... I was scared to write this... After the 26, 000 word monster I wrote, I felt pressured to do another.**

 **I managed another 26,000 words monster, but I my goal is no chapter length, but reaching a satisfying end to a chapter.**

 **Enough about that! Here's chapter three of Delightful Sensation!**

* * *

 **Chap 3: The Best medicine**

Amidst the slowly forming flow of students and NOL Academy staff whom most were drawn to where the epic showdown between two powerhouses had ended not to long ago. It was the two individual heading the opposing direction of the aforementioned masses who are of our interest; Ragna and Taro.

Ignoring the questions and other annoyances along the way, Ragna had chosen to remain quiet and let Taro do the talking, as it was obvious to him that Taro was an extroverted personality. However, he was at this moment strangely silent and there was only so much silence even Ragna could take, especially when it was from someone who seemed so talkative.

He broke the silence, "Hey."

However, Taro didn't respond, scrunching his face he called out to him again.

"Hey, Taro!" Ragna almost spat.

Taro jumped, "Oh, um yeah Ragna?" he responded with much less enthusiasm than Ragna had heard him use compared to earlier this morning.

"Are we anywhere near the infirmary yet?" he asked. The sooner he laid his head on a soft surface, the better.

Taro thought about that question for a minute, then suddenly, he looked around and jumped, "Oh! Sorry we just passed it! It right behind us!"

Ragna didn't say anything, instead, he just let Taro lead them both into the infirmary room which was free of occupants. There were three beds up against a wall, the closest bed was near the room entrance, the furthest was right next to the window and the middle bed was of course in between. They were separated generally with curtains for some visual privacy.

Ragna immediately brought himself close to the middle bed and dropped himself onto it.

"And that's my bed, ahhh~" Ragna sighed a breath of relief.

A few minutes later, Ragna looked to his left where Taro was huddled into a ball of sorts on the bed next to the window. He seemed to be thinking hard about something and it was honestly bothering him.

"Hey, what's up with you?" he asked him.

Taro looked at him, "Oh, it's nothing serious, just thinking that's all!" he gave his usual grin.

Ragna raised an eyebrow at him and continued talking.

"Really? Then I won't bother then."

This seemingly ended the conversation between the two men until Taro asked Ragna out of nowhere.

"Actually, Ragna, is it okay if I speak to you?"

Ragna rolled back to face him, "Sure, go ahead."

Taro looked down in depression, "It's just, ever since we fought Jinny, you know I was meant to protect him and all… But, after trying to fight him I could barely do anything against."

Ragna listened closely.

"I always knew Jinny was super strong, but never that strong… then you showed up and protected me. Not to mention, you fought Jinny head on and even won."

"Uh huh, so what are you getting at?" Ragna became increasingly worried, but never let his expression show otherwise.

"I'm just realising, that you and Jinny are amazing… whilst I'm barely even close, I couldn't do anything… I'm just so… weak..." Taro ended solemnly.

Ragna sat up and replied, "Look, true, you didn't do anything to Jin, but if you didn't show up when you did, then Mai would have definitely died. So don't beat yourself up so much, you at least did something I would have not been able to not at that time."

Taro's eyes regained a bit of light from his words, however, he was still dejected.

"Thanks Ragna, that helps a bit. But still, I'm…" Taro droned on.

Ragna got out of bed finally causing Taro to look up at him.

"Eh? What's up Ragna?" he asked.

Ragna told him, "I can't fall asleep, I'm not even tired or hurt anymore. As much as I'd like to keep you company, I'd rather not waste time here."

"No, I understand, sorry for making you hear me out." Taro said.

"Don't mention it, anyway, I'll see you around." Ragna walked out of the infirmary room leaving Taro to his lonesome.

"Alright, seeya Ragna." Taro replied in turn as Ragna closed the door shut. Taro then took this time to slowly contemplate his own self worth.

Outside the infirmary, Ragna had already began heading back to his dormitory room. As he was walking he was busy running through some annoying thoughts of his; most of it now concerning Taro.

'Damn it… Way to get me worried about somebody.' Ragna muttered within his mind as he walked..

As he was in the midst of his thoughts a pair of footsteps stopped before him demanding his attention. His sights now set upon a buxom blonde he had come to associate with being a 'bitch'.

"Hello Ragna, I see that you've already gotten yourself into trouble again." Emma began the conversation.

Ragna narrowed his eyes in a tiresome manner before saying,

"So I'm guessing you heard about me and Jin earlier then?" to which Emma nodded.

"That's right, I'm going to check on him now and perhaps have Seifer deal with Jin." Emma revealed her intentions.

Ragna nodded in agreement, "Yeah, do that. The little shit needs it, but what's this Seifer guy going to do to Jin?" he asked warily.

Emma replied, "Oh, Professor Seifer Albar, he's an Academy lecturer and a genius in alchemy. He isn't someone you see often, but he's a nice guy that everyone seems to like. He'll know what to do with Jin and his sudden outburst so it doesn't happen again."

Ragna's glare suddenly disappeared and exchanged a few words of gratitude, "Okay, that's not so bad, make sure he gets better and all that. Now then I'll be on my…"

"Hold on for a second Ragna, I have something for you." Emma reminded him.

"And that would be?" Ragna waited impatiently for an answer.

Emma pulled out an A4 sheet of paper with a 4 by 5 table grid on it.

"Your full time table, there are quite a few blanks just as all College students have."

Ragna took his timetable and looked over it quickly only to say in slight shock.

"Holy crap, I only have classes two days a week! I've got so much free time."

Emma gave him a slight glare.

"You mean study time, right?"

Ragna stepped back a bit before exasperatedly replying "Yes ma'am, study time. So, anything else I should know?"

Emma informed him,

"Although you only have about two days of class time, you can choose some electives that interest you, there's a list of them on the back of your timetable. However, be quick, the census date is only a month away."

Ragna thanked her and put his time table in his pocket,

"Alright, I'll check it out later, thanks Emma. Now can I go? Doesn't Jin need some attention?"

Emma nodded and excused herself, "Yes he does, I'll see you around Ragna." as she walked off into the distance.

As Ragna watched her walk off towards where Jin should still be, he remembered Mai's words about Emma not being too bad. He hated to admit, she may have been right.

"Argh… I guess she's alright."

He resumed going over his time table once more and saw that he only had one class left for today; the Armagus Lab subject where he had to do that stupid light assessment. However, the college student, being himself, shrugged since on the bright side, he'd be hanging out with the girls he had recently befriended. Along with lingering thoughts of Taro's mood and his last battle, which made going to the Lab class a few hours early seemingly more appealing.

With that, Ragna began taking steps with a hasty stride, which made it very clear to the other students. Who wanted to approach him about his victory over Jin that he had nothing to say. With rough shoves reinforcing his desire to be left alone.

With each dozen or so steps, many thoughts running amok within the young man's head threatened to burst his head open.

'Damn it all! Jin is still batshit crazy! It's all that friggin' Nox Nyctores' fault'. A vision of Jin's sadistic face brimming with joy as he sliced away at Ragna, flashed through his head.

Then Taro, a friend he made recently had been hurt in a way he couldn't stop.

' _... I couldn't do anything… I'm just so… weak…' Taro's judgement of his self worth ate away at Ragna's mind._

'The feeling of being weak… not being able to protect something you value… I understand that pain…' a deep part of Ragna's being resonated within.

With that last thought, Ragna had just arrived at the front door where he had just grabbed the door handle with his right arm. His right arm… the Azure Grimoire which was said to be the greatest power of them all. He could barely use this thing yet, sure he had defeated Jin, but what? He had done it barely, even with it's help. Was he actually getting stronger?

He shook his head and slammed the door open to reveal the empty classroom. That brought some comfort, he could at least have time to think and relax before the hours passed.

He approached the table where he and Mai had finally met each other again. He found his seat and sat upon it whilst thinking about how far he had come from the day he lost his right arm.

Screw thinking he thought. It was just making him more agitated and frustrated than he already was. This lead him to just keep his eyes shut and eventually nod off.

* * *

 **1 hour later, at a special infirmary.**

At another location situated much closer to the site of battle than where our white-haired grump as of the moment. The detectives of Remix Heart and Emma were accompanying a man who was dressed in a white lab coat over a rather formal set of suit pants, a vest over a white button shirt and over his eyes, a pair of glasses. His hair was styled back and his face was quite thin and sharp, however, he eluded a very calm and respectful aura which earned him the respect of all students who met him.

"Excuse me Mr Cypher, will Jin be okay?" Tsubaki asked him with worry and trembling evident in her voice due to her earlier crying fit.

Seifer turned his head as much as could towards the redhead and gave her a reassuring smile.

"You have naught for worry Miss Yayoi. Jin Kisaragi will be better than he was before. As long we get him immediate medical assistance that is." he assured her.

Tsubaki's face brightened enough to cause even blind people to cover their eyes.

"That's wonderful to hear! Thank you so much." she gave her utmost gratitude.

Emma however stepped in, "Don't thank us yet, we still need to give him some treatment."

Tsubaki hopped a bit, "Y-Yes Emma, of course, please do it right away!"

Makoto put a hand on Tsubaki's shoulders, "Hey chill Tsubaki~ Your man Jin is going to be all~ fine!" she gave her redheaded friend some happy-go-lucky charm.

"B-B...But I've never seen him be hurt so badly before. Not to mention psychotic." Tsubaki mentioned.

Noel stepped up to comfort her with Makoto, "He'll be okay Tsubaki, we know how strong Jin is, he'd never be down for long."

Tsubaki looked up at her two friends, she saw in their eyes a pair of powerful flames which refused to believe that Jin's radiance would ever burn out. This made her feel silly, hence she chuckled whilst quenching any doubts of Noel's and Makoto's.

"Hehe! You guys are right! Jin will definitely get better!" Tsubaki glowed much to her two best friends joy.

Seeing the interactions of the three girls put a warm smile upon Mai's face.

'Even in the worst of times… girls can always smile and bring the best out of anything…' Mai mused over the amazing traits of the female sex.

Mai stepped up to them which got their attention and suggested,

"How about we help out in getting Jin better like this morning?"

Makoto winked and gave her the thumbs up, "Way ahead of you Mai!"

Noel nodded enthusiastically whilst Tsubaki nodded with a sparkle in her eyes causing Mai to grin with determination to help Jin. However, when she took one step closer to Jin, he began to tremble and grunt in pain.

"Urgh! Darrh!" Jin tussled in the stretcher which had belts to restrain him for any other outlashes.

Seifer pushed up his glasses and said, "I figured as much, Mai get away from him."

"Y-yes" Mai complied with his command and saw that Jin slowly returned to laying unconscious.

"But why is he trembling so much?" she couldn't stop herself from asking.

Cypher explained "Emma gave me the details about your condition…" Mai shot up at this.

"... I suspect that he's reacting violently to the traces of Azure that are within you. So your presence won't help at all."

Noel spoke up, "B-But can't we do something to Mai so she being here won't make Jin react?"

Cypher told them, "There is…" causing the girls to look up in hope.

"But it'd involve activities that I don't think Emma and you girls would appreciate." Cypher told them with a smile.

"What do you mean by that?" Makoto asked.

Emma answered for the professor, "For that to happen, the process involves stripping her naked."

At this, all the girls flushed a deep red.

"Oh~ Um okay, then, I guess you three can go on with me. Seeya later."

"We'll see you soon Mai!" Noel said.

"Too you as well." Tsubaki to her.

"Laters!" Makoto said to Mai.

They all waved goodbye one last time before Mai walked off into the long hallway. The blunette's expression transitioned from a smile to one of deep concentration; one akin to a buddhist's monk. Her thoughts were now focused on her room mate Kajun.

Mai wondered aloud "Now where did Kajun disappear to? Someone must have seen her."

Mai went about giving a brief and careful sweep of the rooms she passed. So far, after a 10 minutes which seemingly flowed at a snail's pace, she halted her search when she noticed the infirmity room.

"Infirmity? Maybe I'll ask those two if they have seen Kajun. " she said as she opened the door whilst preparing to greet two people, only to instead find one.

"Eh? Hey Taro? I thought Ragna was with you?" she asked the man who was busy playing with a vase of flowers.

Taro turned around, "Oh!? Hey there Mai-Mai! Yeah he just left a few minutes ago, I think I bugged him out a little. Hehe!" he told her.

Mai nodded but noticed something off about him.

"Hey, Taro, what's wrong?" she asked in worry.

Taro feigned confusion, "What do you mean? I'm fine!" he tried to laugh off.

Mai stepped forward and reprimanded him, "Taro, we're friends, you can tell me."

Taro continued laughing until he piped down.

"Heh… You saw through me too…" Taro said.

Mai tilted her head in confusion.

Seeing this Taro informed her,

"Ragna could somehow tell I wasn't being myself. I think that's why he left."

"But what are you so down about?" Mai asked which made Taro recap his weakness against Jin and how useless he was.

Mai told him, "Taro… Ragna was right, you saved me when he couldn't, doesn't that count for something?"

Taro smiled, "Thank you, really, but that still doesn't change the fact I…"

Mai bit her bottom lip in increasing worry for her fellow guy friend, if she was still a guy. Although she had never spoken to Taro that often, she could understand Taro's depression of insignificance.

"I think you just need some time, okay. Anyway, I'll catch you later." Mai waved goodbye.

Taro gave her a ghost of a wave, "Yeah, seeya later as well Mai."

Mai sweat dropped, he didn't even call her a nickname he usually gave to people he considered his friends.

Just as she was about to exit the infirmary, she jolted,

"Hold on, sorry, but have you seen Kajun by any chance?" she asked.

Taro replied, "No haven't seen 'Jun in a while."

Mai nodded and gave him her gratitude.

"Thanks man, I'll leave you to it"

"Seeya." Taro waved before looking out the window.

Back in the hallway with Mai, she closed the door to the infirmary before she continued her search for Kajun. However, we each iteration of rooms she had passed, her energy to press on has diminished along with the, the young lady sighed in defeat.

"*yawn* This is getting nowhere… I

I might as well just get to class and try to work on the assignment." Mai told herself.

Turning around to face the corridor which happened to be the one where her Ars Magus Lab class is held, she walked into it for not even 6 steps and she bumped into someone.

The short auburn haired figure look up,

" Oh, Mai right? Tsubaki's friend?"

Mai blinked before nodding.

"Yeah, that's me, you're Akane, what's up?" she inquired.

Akane put his hands to the side and simply said, "Just looking for where that goofball Taro went. That's all."

Mai's mood went down a little and broke the news to him.

"Well about him, he's in the infirmary near where the incident happened. And he's a little depressed at the moment." she told him.

Akane stopped smiling, "That guy? Depressed, damn, that's impossible. Ah, never mind, I think I'll go see him right now. I think maybe some donuts will cheer him up." Akane suggested.

Mai smiled, "Yeah, that might work, now seeya later"

Akane walked passed, "Bye." leaving the area to search for his friend.

As did she, passing two more rooms and then bingo. The room for her next class was just before her. Her hand then reached for the handle and she slid it open.

* * *

 **Armagus Lab, Classroom**

What she saw before her shocked her, there was the person she was looking for staring at seemingly nothing.

"Kajun!? Where were you? I was looking all over for y-" but Mai was shushed.

"Shh~ Sorry about that, but I had something important to do." Kajun told her.

Mai was a little miffed at what she was told and had to ask.

"Like what?" her eyes beginning to twitch.

Kajun pointeda delicate finger in front of her.

"Like watching him sleep." she ended with a giggle.

Following her eccentric roommate's finger, her gaze eventually fell upon Ragna which made her almost burst into a fit of giggles like Kajun.

"Oh man, he looks so angry even when he's asleep." Mai commented.

Kajun made a sound of agreement.

"Mmhm! I know, he looks so grumpy." she added

They noticed Ragna's face crunch up into an even more hilarious face. At least to them.

"Now it looks like he's holding in a big one." Mai laughed a little along with Kajun giggling.

Ragna's eyes suddenly opened, "Probably because I was awake this entire time." he scared Mai whilst Kajun still giggled.

"Oh so you were awake, I knew someone couldn't look that angry whilst sleeping." Kajun smiled.

Ragna sneered, "Hey, how I look while sleeping is my concern. Now what the hell were you two doing?" he asked expectantly them as he crossed his arms.

Kajun replied, "Watching you sleep, not sure what Mai and the others were doing?"

Mai spoke up, "Well the others are with Jin and are helping out in his recovery. I was looking for you the whole time, where were you?"

Her eyes brimming with curiosity.

Kajun looked in her direction and gave her a grin.

"I became a little nauseous seeing Ragna here all cut up and ran as fast as I could to find some medicine." she gave them the short story.

Ragna's eyebrows rose whilst Mai's eyes opened wide in slight disbelief.

"Really?" Mai said out loud.

Kajun just smiled like she normally does,

"Yes, really."

Ragna interrupted, "Okay, glad you're better then, Princess. So ah? Are you two going to get changed or not?" he pointed out their attire; their P.E uniforms.

They both did a double take and gave it a thought. However, Kajun voiced both their decisions.

"No dice, this lady would rather prefer a nice long break, wouldn't you agree?" Kajun asked Mai with that look which expected you to know what they were thinking.

In this case, Mai agreed, "Yeah, so much has happened this morning and my legs are numb from that fight."

Mai stretched out her legs and back as she finally realised how exhausted she was.

Whilst she was doing that, Kajun found herself a seat on a desk just to the right side of Ragna. She called Mai over,

"Then how about we taking seat Mai, we can talk about what we will probably do after break." Kajun suggested.

Mai nodded lazily and plopped besides her room mate.

"Yeah sure, why not? Got nothing better to do." Mai replied as she let out a tired sigh.

Ragna who was just observing then added his two cents, "I will just be right thinking to myself."

Kajun then smirked, "Sure, you do that. Whilst I~" her fingers wiggled as they scanned for their "targets". Those aforementioned fingers were then thrust into the pillow caverns which must been gifted from the heavens. The keeper of the said gift let out an alarming squeak which cause our white haired protagonist to look in the direction hence it came. What he saw made him ask himself two questions.

'Do I stop this, or keep watching?' Ragna questioned.

As he thought this, the girl being assaulted by Kajun's hands squirmed and flailed her arms in 'resistance'.

"Kajun!? Stop! Please not now!" Mai begged.

Kajun however, just whispered into Mai's ear with a sultry voice.

"Oh come on~ Don't act like you don't like this~ Ahh~ So relaxing playing with you~" she mused.

Mai's face burned due to her voice and the face that she was doing this in front of Ragna. Which reminded her.

"Please… j-just stop! Ragna is watching!" Mai told her.

Ragna blinked before coughing and looking away.

"I'm not now." he replied making Mai's face show gloom.

"Please help me Ragna." she tried to ask but Kajun bet her to that.

"Hey Ragna, why don't you join and double team Mai with me?" she suggested.

Ragna coughed uncontrollably whilst Mai's face became even more red.

"Ah! What did you ask me?" he questioned with disbelief.

Kajun slyly smiled, "Why not join us? I think we'll all enjoy it."

Ragna gained a hint of pink on his face and politely decline.

"I'll pass, I don't want to add to her suffering."

Kajun countered, "She isn't suffering, I recall that she didn't mind when you grabbed her chest." she tittered.

Both Ragna and Mai spat at the same time.

"It was an accident!" Ragna defended.

"I didn't notice it!" Mai defended

Kajun just giggled at the two people's reactions, enough to allow Mai a quick escape. She fell forward and leaped to the seat next to Ragna's then she leaned over the desk they share as she caught he breath.

"Ha...ha… wuah, I… survived… the onslaught… of… Kajun…" Mai told Ragna who was looking at her with worry.

"You alright? That was… a pretty damn powerful attack she used on you." Ragna replied as a joke, or not giving at how he didn't dare look at a giggling Kajun right behind him. There was this weird aura coming off of her that gave him the chills.

Mai looked into Ragna's eyes with her own filled with dread as if she had seen a horror flick.

She waved her arms around whilst telling him, "You have no idea… I don't understand… I'd rather be cut up by Jin's attack that ever be caught by her." she described the immense power Kajun's groping hands.

Ragna nodded along adding in his own comments.

"I could see that, glad I don't have huge tits." he added.

Mai nodded, "Yeah you're so lucky that… huh?" her face froze as her mind just processed what he said. She wasn't alone, Kajun even stopped laughing to look at Ragna.

Ragna noticed this sudden silence, he took a quick look at both girls before realising what he said.

He waved his arms in defense whilst telling them,

"Hey come on! It's true! If you can harass them Princess…" he stressed as he eyed Kajun.

"Then I can point them out!" as he looked back at Mai who was still reeling from his comment about her bust.

A few seconds after he said that, Kajun shrugged, "Well, he does have a point."

Mai slowly nodded, "Y-Yeah, I guess why can't blame him." she begrudgingly agreed.

Ragna took a deep breath, "Okay" he turned to Mai.

"Look I'm sorry about what I said, I just saying the truth." Ragna apologised but Mai smiled and waved him off.

"It's alright! Compared to what Makoto, Kajun and even Noel say about my chest, what you said is tame. I'm used to it." Mai laughed it off.

Ragna let out a small breath, "Phew, I thought I was going to get slapped."

Mai laughed at his comment, "Hey, it's not that bad, besides, you're right, you should be glad you don't have these yourself."

Ragna nodded, "I know, feels weird to be talking about a topic like this with a girl, but…"

Mai flushed, "Yeah… let's do something else." she suggested before they ended up talking about things only guys would talk about openly… even though she was a guy at heart.

Therefore, to pass the time, the trio of Ragna, Mai and Kajun all worked on the light spell they had to do. The two girls were still struggling with the spell, so Ragna had to give some advice here and there.

Mai tried to make the spell last longer, but it never did.

"Damn it, why is it so hard to maintain? At this rate I don't think we'll ever finish that last part of the assignment." she gloomed.

Ragna scratched his head, "Yep, I think this assessment is just to mess with us." he replied.

Kajun popped in, "Agreed, that's why I'd rather use the power of science to do this instead." she told them whilst popping out a small little tube that looked like her lipstick.

Mai looked on curiously, "Um, Kajun, what is that?" Ragna's attention was also on what Kajun had in her possession.

Kajun smirked whilst explaining with an enthusiasm only she was capable of.

"It's special light ars magus tool I made in my spare time, it does the spell for me and I don't have to put in any more effort than just a click." she exclaimed as she turned on the 'Lipstick light'.

The device emitted an almost blinding light, just like the one Mai had created earlier, only this one stayed lit for much, much longer that her own.

"Wow, that's amazing Kajun! Is this how you're going to pass the assignment?" she asked.

Kajun nodded, "That's right, the assessment only requires us to 'create' the spell, but doesn't say how?" she smartly explained.

Mai laughed at Kajun's genius whilst Ragna cracked a smile.

"Cool, wish I was good with gadgets. Instead I'm stuck where I am until Mai finally gets her Arsmagus down." Ragna said. Mai slumped a bit whilst laughing half-hearted.

"Um… sorry?" Mai replied.

Ragna told her, "No offense, lets just keep practicing until you get it down."

At this Mai agreed, however, before they could continue, the door opened to reveal the teacher along with a few students, two of which they were acquaintances with.

"Oh! Hey! Tsubaki! Noel over here! I found Kajun!" Mai called to them.

Tsubaki smiled at her and bowed a bit whilst Noel cheered back at Mai.

"Mai! Good to see you!" Noel greeted, but the teacher raised his voice.

"Quiet! Everyone! I appreciate your enthusiasm, but only when you're all using towards your work. Now get started!" the Arsmagus Lab teacher ordered.

"Yes sir!" the students obliged.

Half an hour into the class, many of the students were scratching their heads in frustration. While they all now know how to produce the light arsmagus, how to combine each other's own light into some sort of weaponised beam had just escaped them.

The frustration could be felt in the atmosphere, so the teacher stepped up and told them, "Everyone, I can see you're all struggling on the last part. Anyone what to ask for some advice?" he questioned.

The students all looked up in hope, but they were all too scared to ask out of pride or nerves.

The teacher face faulted, "Guys! Like I said, it's okay to ask for help and admit you don't know something. Even I myself don't know everything." at this, a random student raised his hand.

"Yes, Evan, what's your question?" he asked.

The student, Evan asked, "Well, me and my friend both got this spell down to a T, but for some reason, whenever we put the spell together, it just doesn't work."

The teacher responded, "Have any of you tried to mold the armagus to match the other person?"

At this Ragna and Mai perked up along with Tsubaki, Noel and Kajun.

The teacher continued, "This armagus is very delicate, to combine each of your own together, you both have to match each other's wavelengths or understand each other well. For instance, your best friend is an ideal partner." he informed them.

At this, Tsubaki had to ask, "Wait, but, what if the person we end up using the spell with we don't really know? Maybe even dislike?" she added as a point to which many of the students all spoke up about this assignment being a dud.

The teacher shuushed them, "Hey! That's the point of this assessment, to see if you guys can overcome that. Because in the NOL, you're going to be paired up with many others you might not like, even hate. But when push comes to shove, you may only have each other to rely on, what choice do you have?"

He looked around and saw many of the bewildered and shocked faces of the students.

"Exactly, you have to at the very least, respect your fellow comrade. That's the purpose behind this Armagus. Now, any other questions?" he looked around, then he let the students continue their work.

With Mai and Ragna, they began to discuss what they had just learnt.

"Okay, I think we get along well enough, so maybe we just need to match… wavelengths?" Mai suggested.

Ragna shrugged, "Well yeah, but like the guy said, it might be more that we only just became friends yesterday and don't really know how to match wavelengths. Heck this is all new to me, this cooperative armagus. I mean" he admitted.

Mai let out a breath of defeat, "Oh man, we're not going to be finishing this soon are we?"

"Took the words right out of my mouth…" he replied, but he insisted they might as well practice anyway.

* * *

 **1:00 PM: Early afternoon, Lunchtime**

The bell that signaled that the long loved breaktime had gone, telling many of the NOL Academy students that lunch was awaiting them.

Ragna and Mai, got up whilst stretching and cracking a few sore spots on their bodies.

"Argh! Damn, I hate these friggin' chairs, they make class worse than it already is." Ragna growled lowly.

Mai agreed, "Yeah, I feel that, *pop* now that feels better!" she perked up.

She was about to suggest to Ragna that they should head to the Cafeteria, however, a bunch of students swarmed Ragna.

Ragna held his hands up, "Whoa! What the fu-!" he almost swore.

"Dude! How did you beat Jin!" a random student asked.

Another called out, "Yeah! You're so strong! How did you do it?"

And many more comments like that were made, along with the random.

"Go out with me!" a random girl called out to him.

Ragna tried to move out but they were pushing into him from all directions.

"H-Hey! One at a time and ow! Who stepped on my foot!?" Ragna yelled.

The swarm had almost swallow him if it wasn't for hi redheaded friend.

"Ahem! Excuse me! All of you! Can't you see that you're bothering Ragna?" Tsubaki scolded them with a fierce voice that made everyone stiffen up.

The random students immediately felt ashamed and moved away from Ragna who finally got a breather.

Tsubaki and Noel came up to him and asked if he was okay.

"Um, Ragna, are you okay?" Noel asked him with worry evident in her eyes.

Ragna looked up at her and stood tall again.

"I'm fine, just… as long as I don't get swarm again.. Jesus, I thought it was a rape attempt for second." Ragna chose the 'right' word for the right moment.

Many of the people who heard this laughed. Tsubaki and Noel turned red at the blunt description he just worded, but found themselves laughing wholeheartedly.

Mai and Kajun also found themselves laughing at Ragna's unique way of describing the situation he was in.

"Oh my, Ragna you have a way with words that no one else does." Tsubaki giggled along with her friends.

Ragna looked back at the girls he befriended only a day ago with a horrified face, "Hey, you guys wouldn't be laughing if it were you."

Mai joined in, "Well, you're safe now, that counts for something." she said.

Ragna nodded, "Alright, now can we go somewhere else where I'll actually feel safe?" he requested.

Noel jumped up, "No problem, let's all get lunch! Makoto is probably already getting dessert for us!"

Tsubaki's and Kajun's eyes twinkled at this, they were excited for that what they had for today.

"Oh yes, the special triple chocolate brownies they make, oh yes let's head off there now." Tsubaki suggested with her student council act slipping for just this occasion.

All the girls except Mai herself cheered for it and began marching towards the cafeteria.

"Hey Mai, what's the deal about these chocolate brownies they make? Are they any good?" Ragna asked whilst he walked behind her and the girls.

Mai waved her hand to say no.

"I wouldn't know, but I heard that it's one of the most infamous items in the Academy cafeteria that they only make 3 times a year." Mai informed him.

Ragna nodded, "Really? Then it mustn't be that good if they don't make it that often, otherwise they'd be selling it everyday." Ragna reasoned with logic.

Mai nodded in agreement, but she still wistfully replied, "Yeah, you're probably right, but… still… one day I'd like to try one when I get my taste fixed."

Ragna didn't say anything, but did narrow his eyes a bit when she said that.

The journey to the cafeteria, was fortunately over by that time, they were greeted to the massive golden chandeliers hanging well above the well polished wooden tables which were already brimming with hungry students, with more going to and from the food buffet area.

"Wow! There are so many people here already! I don't think we'll get the special triple chocolate chip brownies at this rate!" cried Noel.

Tsubaki however, turned Noel around, "Don't lose hope Noel, we can definitely get our share. But there's always a next time." Tsubaki comforted her, but her eyes showed the same desire for those brownies as Noel's.

Ragna just voiced his opinion, "Whoa, they're determined to get those brownies, maybe they are good if it can make them like that."

Mai replied, "The girls are always like that when it comes to these desserts." she giggled at the two.

Whilst they were talking, Kajun who was kept her calm was looking into the crowd and spotted a wiggling hazelnut tail poking in and out of the crowd.

"I don't think you two need to worry, I think someone gave us hope after all." Kajun informed them with a smile and a glint in her eyes.

They heard the half-beast yell out, "Hey, make way, make way! Nothing is taking these precious babies away from me!" Makoto warned the crowd in the buffet area.

Noel waved to Makoto, "Makoto! Over here!"

Makoto looked up and saw her friends, "Hiddy ho! I'll be right there! Hiyah!" she jumped high into the air causing her friends to watch in amazement.

"Wow! Makoto sure is strong." Noel admired her friend.

Tsubaki did as well,"Yeah, she's always had so much energy!"

Kajun smiled at her furry friend and added, "I believe she just had something to fight for, those brownies I suppose." she jested.

Makoto landed right before them with a goofy grin on her face, "Hiya y'all! I managed to get these super intense, tasty sweet chocolate goodness of waistline destruction for all of us!" Makoto drooled on about the special brownies of legend making all the girls besides Mai to gain twinkles in their eyes.

"Oh my… I can't wait to eat them!" Noel exclaimed.

Kajun smiled and admitted, "I'm trying to keep myself prim and proper, but maybe just for these occasions." she decided to indulge.

Tsubaki held up her hands and told them, "Hehe! I'm excited too, but let's find a place to enjoy them first." she suggested despite her desire to just dig in where they are right now.

However, Ragna who was just looking around happened to spot two familiar guys he had met earlier today. The auburn hair guy and the tall dark haired, tan guy.

'Huh? Those two again? Akane and Taro, Akane seems to be trying to cheer Taro up with some treats. But it doesn't seem to be working.' Ragna noted.

Then he responded to Tsubaki's suggestion and told her, "Hey, um, not to disappoint, but all the tables are taken, where are we going to eat?"

The girls looked around and saw that the tables were indeed not an option, however, this wasn't anything new to them.

Makoto answered, "Don't cha worry pal, we got our own special spot for our special meal now don't we guys?" she reminded her friends.

"Yep, we know the place." Tsubaki replied.

Noel cheered, "Alright! Let's get over there now!"

The group began rushing towards the exit and headed off to the awaited destination.

"Hey, wait for us!" Mai chased after the girls as Ragna followed suit.

"Urgh! These girls are going to be the end of me." he said to himself.

On that, Ragna was right.

* * *

 **1:10PM: A hilly field**

After a good 5 or 7 minutes of chasing after the excited girls holding the brownies. The Remix Heart pretty girls detectives, plus one boy found themselves at small hilly field bathing in warm, rays of sunlight that gave the flowers that enchanting charm. All this, followed by a cool breeze and a group of happy teens and one adolescent.

"We're here, yay!" Noel cheered as she knew that the moment of truth was about to come.

Makoto follow, "Oh yeah! The moment we've all been waiting for!"

Tsubaki giggled, "Settle down now, we'll get to it soon."

Kajun replied, "Yes, the legendary brownies." with that sparkle in her eyes that never seemed to have left.

Ragna on the sidelines, just said to himself, "It like they discovered gold or some shit."

Mai chuckled at his comment, "I think that as well."

Then the girls all took a piece of their brownies before popping one into their mouths. A few seconds passed and they all squealed in delight.

"Mmmm! It's so good!" Noel moaned in ecstasy.

Makoto howled in pleasure, "My tongue~ This is heaven on a plate~" she chimed.

Tsubaki's reaction was more formal, but just as joyful, "I can't even begin to describe this sensation I'm feeling." whilst she rubbed her thighs together for some reason.

Kajun let out a breath of happiness, "Ahh~ It's so warm and gooey in my mouth~ This is sensational~" in a rather sultry voice.

Watching and hearing the girls eat the brownies, Ragna began to feel his own excitement build up. Except…

"Now I'm getting excited, but I don't think it's for the brownies." he admitted to himself.

Mai herself had to agree, the sounds these girls make when they enjoy desserts was something she had to get used to when she became friends with them.

"But, look at how happy they are… *sigh* I wonder if I'll ever get to experience that someday?" Mai said to herself.

Ragna looked towards her for a while, that was the second time today that she said something like that.

'Hm, so she misses enjoying regular food. I think most people would have gone crazy if they were in her place.' Ragna thought to himself.

However, Ragna was knocked out of his musing when someone got his attention, "Ragna! You haven't had a piece yet, you've got to try this!" Makoto pestered him.

Ragna leaned back quickly, "Okay, I will just let me get a slice."

Noel joined in, "Yes, please do! You don't know what you're missing out on if you don't try this." she got in his face with her own smothered in chocolate.

Ragna stared at the brownie in his hands with harsh critique in his eyes. So far, it looked like a really gooey and sticky chocolate bar with extra choc chips.

"Is it really that good?" Ragna asked.

Tsubaki answered with firm look in her eyes, "Yes, it is very delicious."

Kajun added, "One of the greatest creations of all time."

Ragna looked at all the girls one by one, noting all their smiles and anticipating his moment to have a bite.

"Okay, I'll try it. Ah~ *chomp*" Ragna took a small bite out of his brownie and chewed.

All the girls leaned forward, waiting for his verdict.

"Well, isn't good?" Kajun asked.

Ragna swallowed before opening his eyes.

"Hey, this is pretty good." Ragna admitted with an impressed smirk on his face.

However, the girls besides Mai herself gained a flaming aura. Something that Ragna took note of and backed away slowly, "Um… did say something wrong?"

Mai answered, "I think they expected you to say something along the lines of.." she took a deep breath and mocked in a higher pitched voice.

"Oh wow! This is amazing! So good!" she finished her line and ended with "Or something like that."

Ragna blanched at Mai's impression and announced, "Hey, it's really good alright! But not that good I'd be all ga-ga goo-goo over it."

The aura of the other girls intensified causing Ragna to feel true fear. Meanwhile Mai just winced, "Oh, bad move Ragna, may you find peace." she jested.

Ragna however began to creep back and said to the girls, "H-hey, we can talk a-about this, besides you guys… well um… Overhyped it."

This however was the last straw, Noel, Makoto, Tsubaki and Kajun looked at each other with militant looks before facing Ragna once more.

They then each grasped their brownies.

"Maybe you didn't take a big enough bite Ragna?" Noel smiled sickly sweetly before she broke a chunk of her brownie.

Tsubaki also agreed, "That's right, you did have a very small piece. Don't be shy." she broke her brownie which made a sound akin to metal snapping causing Ragna to pale and sweat.

Ragna tried to formulate a sentence, "Hey… Hey, what are you?" but Makoto interrupted.

"This stuff is heavenly… It'd be a waste if you didn't try it the way you were meant to." Makoto said to whilst breaking a chunk of her own which emitted a echoing crack.

Ragna finally questioned the logic behind that, "Okay! What the hell is up with those brownies!?"

Kajun however, just snapped hers and looked towards him, "I don't really know what's happening but it seems fun."

Ragna replied, "Don't think it will be for me…"

Then those for girls reach over towards Ragna's trembling mouth, "Now open wide!" They all chanted demonically.

Ragna almost shit his pants the same colour as those brownies and looked towards Mai. The triple choc chip brownies with literally one nibble was sweet enough to make one sick, but four bite sized chunks? That would be overkill!

"H-hey! Do something! Anything!" he begged.

Mai sighed in amusement and stepped in, "Hey, guys, how did things go with Jin? She asked them before any 'harm' was done.

They all paused, Tsubaki hearing anything about Jin immediately answered,"Oh, yes Jin! They said he'd make a full recovery within a week, but Professor Cypher said the restraining ars he's making for Jin will take some time." Tsubaki informed them of earlier.

Mai and Kajun smiled at this information, "That's great to hear!"

Whilst this happened Noel and Makoto both looked around the area before saying,

"Hey, how did I get here?" Noel wondered in confusion.

As did Makoto who did a double take for them, "Yeah, we weren't here second ago. Wait a minute?" Makoto noticed both her hand and Noel's that they had their brownies in Ragna's direction.

With his heavy breathing, it seemed to Makoto that he was about to take a bite out of their brownies. She and Noel recoiled.

"Hey! You were trying to take a bite out of our brownies!" Makoto accused.

Ragna sputtered, "W-wha um… No! You guys were-"

Noel gave Ragna a little glare, "No, you can't have any of mine! You already have your own." Noel told him.

Ragna looked in disbelief, "You were all holding me at gun point with those brownies."

Makoto shoved that off, "Yeah, yeah, keep lying buddy, we know just how scrumptious these things are!"

Ragna let out a breath of defeat, this was never going to be a battle he'd win.

Suddenly, a commanding voice they had all come to recognise as Emma had called to them.

With her hands on her hips, "There you all are! I was looking for all of you girls. Ragna? You're here too? That's even better." she exclaimed.

Makoto waved, "Afternoon ma'am!" followed by Noel who greeted her, "Hello Emma!"

Tsubaki slightly bowed where she sat and asked her, "Good afternoon Miss Emma, what did you need from us?"

Emma gave them a harsh look as she normally did and told them,

"Well, earlier today, you saw how much damage Jin caused to the academy with his Ars Magus and Yukianesa. Now the school is trying to melt the ice by turning up the temperature throughout level 7."

Kajun asked, "That's good, but what does that have to do with us Miss Emma?"

Emma put on a slight smiling putting them at unease, "Well, since you are Jin's friends, it's only fair that you'll have to clean up his mess."

Noel and Makoto whined whilst Kajun looked a bit displeased.

"But why? We didn't…" Makoto tried to talk back, however, Tsubaki jumped in.

"Yes! We definitely will!" Tsubaki glowed whilst the other girls fall over.

Ragna looked at Mai, "Well sucks to be you guys, hehe"

Emma looked to him, "Your not off the hook sir, you gravely injured Jin and your punishment is to help these girls with melting the ice." she told him.

Ragna frowned, "Grr, why? But I just got here yesterday and need to catch up." he argued.

Emma crossed her arms under her chest, "I said it before, Jin is injured because of you and besides, don't you have plenty of free time on your hands?" she smirked deviously.

Ragna being a smartarse, replied, "No I don't, didn't you say it was 'study' time?" he grinned cockily.

Emma glared and leaned over him, "Don't play smart with me you punk! Or else you'll be punished severely." she threatened.

Ragna blew her off, "Yeah? With what, a bad report?" he smirked.

Emma smirked in return, "I see, a tough guy huh?" she then looked to Noel.

"Noel Vermilion!" Emma yelled her named.

Noel sat up quickly in fright, "Y-yes ma'am!"

Emma commanded her, "For the duration of the ice melting task, you are to cook Ragna his meals for that time."

All the girls besides Mai turned green.

Ragna paled and sweat dropped, "Oh hell no! Anything but that!" he exclaimed.

However Mai looked to him and admitted her envy.

"Oh boy, you're so lucky! Hey, maybe you could share it with me." Mai suggested with a twinkle in her eyes and drool dribbling out of her mouth.

Ragna looked at her and thought out loud, "Hey that's a plan-" but Emma stepped in.

"And only you can eat Ragna, no sharing with others, especially Mai." Emma foiled Ragna's getaway plan.

Mai slumped and was comforted by the other girls whilst Ragna looked back and forth between Emma and Noel.

Ragna admitted defeat, "Fine, I'll help melt the ice! Just don't let her cook anything for me."

Emma smirked and straightened her posture. "Glad to see we're on the same page, now then, enjoy your lunch." she bid them goodbye.

Ragna let out a strained breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Oh God… Why would she put that pain onto anyone?" Ragna asked no one in particular.

Kajun and Makoto gave him their condolences and sympathy.

"Well, Noel's… cooking is, well… not from this world." Kajun answered.

Makoto went next, "It's basically a secret weapon only known to the NOL academy."

After that was said, they heard Noel sobbing a bit.

"You're so mean. My cooking isn't bad." Noel claimed.

Ragna added, "Yeah guys it isn't."

Surprising them all that he came to Noel's defense.

Noel flushed at his actions, "Ragna… You?" she said with a happy glow.

Ragna ended it with, "It's even worse." causing a few to hide snickers.

Noel return to whining, "You are so mean! Wahaha!"

Seeing this Mai and Tsubaki comforted her.

Tsubaki gave Ragna a rare glare, "Ragna! That was too much."

Ragna ignored the surprisingly menacing stare and replied, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

However, Tsubaki and Mai were already telling Noel that her cooking skills were actually good. At least the things she was good at like…

"Noel, don't listen to the mean man, your knowledge of cooking and ingredients are better than everyone else's in the cooking class." Tsubaki reminded her.

Noel looked up, "R-Really?" at this both Mai and Tsubaki nodded.

"Yeah, literally, I would never eat anything else unless you make it. It's that good!" Mai told her with the utmost sincerity.

Ragna quietly said in the background, "That's because you can't eat anything else…" But no one heard.

Noel perked up and smiled brightly, "Oh~ You guys, thank you so much!" she giggled in joy.

Ragna sighed, "This is the reason why she won't get better, you all spoil too much."

Makoto informed him, "Trust me pal, when Noellers is depressed, it's impossible to watch."

Ragna nodded and took her word for it. He took a bite out of his brownie, which again, in his opinion, was overrated. At that time Kajun decided to ask a question that everyone had been wanting to ask, and I mean 'everyone'.

"By the way Ragna, if you don't mind me asking, what were you and Jin saying to each other?"

Ragna almost choked on his meal, but managed to swallow it, "Um wha? You girls were watching weren't you? Couldn't you hear anything?"

They all shook their heads.

"No, you and Jin were releasing so much pressure that we couldn't hear anything even if we tried." Tsubaki informed.

Ragna stared at them and was inwardly relieved, his relation to Jin wasn't a headache he wanted to add to his already pounding one.

Ragna got up and told them," I gotta go do some catch up work, see you guys tomorrow on clean up duty." he began walking away from them.

Makoto called, "Hey! You didn't answer the question, what did he tell you?"

Ragna replied, "He was just be psycho and saying crap like how I needed to die, nothing else."

"That's all?" Tsubaki doubted.

Ragna nodded, "Well, he said some other gibberish and shit, so there's that." he lied.

They Remix Heart detectives all looked at each other, a few of them shrugged and just accepted his answer.

"Okay, that's good to know. We'll see you around Ragna." Tsubaki told him along with the others.

"Yeah, seeya later." Ragna replied as he headed back towards his dorm.

Then it suddenly occurred to Mai, "Oh crap, I forgot to ask for his time table."

Kajun reprimanded Mai, "Now Mai, language, now then, why do you need to know his time table?"

She asked much to the curiosity of all the other girls.

Mai answered, "Well, we really need to work on that assignment and I'm not sure when he's free."

Noel popped in, "Oh, too bad Mai, Ragna's already gone." she told her and made everyone look in the direction Ragna left.

"Damn! He's quick, he's already out of sight!" Makoto admired.

Looking around, it was true, Ragna was already out of sight.

Mai sighed, "Oh man, who knows when he'll be around." but Kajun comforted her.

"Don't worry Mai, you can ask him tomorrow, if not, on ice duty." she reminded her.

Mai's eyes lit up, "Oh yeah, I forgot Emma threatened him into ice duty." she recalled making the girls giggle openly.

Makoto then began yelling, "Hey, did you guys see the look on his face when she threatened him? It was priceless! Buawahahaha!" she laughed wholeheartedly.

This eventually became how the Remix heart pretty girls detectives came to spend their lunchtime before they had to get ready for class.

* * *

 **8:30PM: Later at night**

Skulking around the boys dormitories, Mai was currently amidst reflecting upon her day. The events with Jin being her primary concern.

'Things have been getting really crazy. First we get Ragna who beats Kazaki like nothing, then Jin goes psychotic. Not to mention that Shiori girl…' her thoughts ended on the Kirihito girl.

Just as soon as she remembered her, the said girl appeared out of nowhere.

"Well, well, what is a lady like yourself doing sneaking about the boys dormitories?" Shiori who was seated in a nearby tree mocked.

Mai looked up to her in surprise and exclaimed, "Shiori!? Where were you!? Everyone was worried about you."

Shiori gave her an evil snicker in response which made Mai's skin crawl.

"Why should you care since you're going to forget anyway." Shiori replied.

Mai found herself confused until a pair of paws had managed to lock her in place.

"What the!?" Mai gasped before a familiar chuckle resounded behind her ears.

"Hehehe! Got'cha neow!" Chachakaka proclaimed.

Mai then gave Shiori a glare and told her, "So you are here to assassinate Jin!"

Shiori tilted her head feigning confusion as a way of mocking the restrained girl.

"Hm~ It seems you know too much about me when you shouldn't. Not that will matter, since I'll make you forget along with your friends." she revealed her intentions partly.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Mai asked in between slight struggles in Chacha's body lock.

Shiori put on a dark smile whilst she chuckled in sick delight, "I won't have to assassinate Jin, I can get that friend of yours to do it. What was her name? Tsubaki?" Shiori wondered.

Mai listened intently, becoming a sponge for any information she deemed important to know.

Letting the blonde continue, "From what I saw, that girl is in love with him. Kuku! I wonder… If I made her forget her memories and have her murder Jin, then give back her memories, what kind of reaction will she have to seeing Jin's dead body?" Shiori let her dark imagination out for the world to know.

Mai looked down with her bangs covering her face, the things Shiori had revealed caused something in her heart to snap and she wouldn't stop until Shiori's plans were put to a grinding halt.

Mai lowered her weight into Chacha making her question, "Huh!? You giving up neow already?"

Mai spoke, "You… I won't…" she quickly threw Chacha off balance before sliding out.

"Whoa!" Chacha exclaimed in shock.

Mai began to rush towards Shiori in a ducked form of running.

"Let you hurt my friends!" she let out a battle cry as she surprised the Kirihito girl with her sudden boost in speed.

Shiori took a step back and tried slashing at Mai, only for it to be redirected slightly which saved Mai from any harm.

'These moves…' Mai thrusted her right hand towards the blonde assassin as if it was a blade.

'... They're the same as the Kirihito assassin style.' she finally recalled where she had seen Mai's fighting style.

Mai herself had proven to be more proficient at the art than the said assassin and had quickly made Shiori take many steps back.

"You won't ever put them through that pain!" she promised her a world of hell if Shiori went through with her plot.

Those words had struck a deep chord within Shiori, it had impacted hard enough that her facade had broken.

"What do you…?" Shiori struck back, but her repressed emotions made her attempts sloppy and telegraphed.

Mai easily dodged and noticed the sudden change.

"What do you know about pain!?" Shiori struck again only for it to be blocked. This ended up causing her knife to flip back and cut her hand.

Mai saw this and immediately she took Shiori's hand.

"Your hand! The poison!"

Shiori thought to herself, 'Is this girl stupid? My body is immune to this compound. I'll use this chance to kill her.'

Whilst Shiori prepared to stab Mai, Mai saw all of Shiori's childhood memories, all the times she had been harshly reprimanded for her mistakes, being who she wanted to be and how much she had been denied her right to be herself.

Seeing all this, Mai brought the blonde into a deep embrace whilst whispering her sympathies.

"It was hard wasn't it? To be hated and punished for just being you? I know that pain… it's unbearable." Mai let out tears for her.

Hearing this, Shiori struggled with trying to say she didn't understand and that no one would know. But her words, her sincere and honest words had caused the cold hearted girl to feel the warmth she had secretly desired.

Unable to stop, she wailed in Mai's embrace letting out all the tears she held back for so long.

Eventually her tears faded along with the night.

* * *

 **The next morning**

Within the domain of Kajun and Mai, the latter had begun to awaken from her slumber. Akin to a cat, she stretched out her body in an attempt to ward off the pain of stiffness.

"*Yawn* Man… Phew, last night was exhausting." Mai thought aloud, then she felt something clutch around her just beneath her ample bosom.

"Then allow me to rid you of your pain Lady Mai." A familiar voice rang into her ear.

Mai jumped, along with Kajun who had also been awoken by the sudden presence of the intruder.

"Shi-Shiori!? What are you doing in our room!?" Mai questioned.

Shiori giggled, "I just want to spend time with Lady Mai~"

Kajun asked, "And why is that?"

Shiori sat up and gave an earnest smile with a heartfelt answer. "Cause I'm in love with Lady Mai."

"Eh?" both the rightful occupants of their dorm voiced their confusion.

However seeing this, Mai found some comfort and had to ask, "Does this mean you won't kill Jin?"

Shiori shook her head which disappointed both Mai and Kajun. But Shiori washed them away with her other reply.

"But that can wait later, for now, let me serve you Lady Mai!" Shiori emphasised with a big smooch on Mai's lips.

Kajun let out a sound of curiosity, "Oh~ This is an interesting development."

Whilst Mai's face burned with flattery and embarrassment.

"Wha-Wha-What in the?" Mai tried to process the situation, but could only think about the blonde girl's smooth, wet lips on her own.

Shiori smirked, "I think we'll be spending a lot of time together, lady Mai"

* * *

 **A week later, level 7 swimming pool**

"... And that's pretty much what happened." Mai finished telling Ragna the story.

He nodded, whilst looking at the little blonde girl who was clinging onto Mai and glaring at him.

"I see, at the least shorty is being more honest with herself." Ragna approved of Shiori's new development.

However, Shiori didn't seem to take too well to Ragna casually conversing with Mai.

"You! Stay away from Lady Mai!" Shiori warned, causing Ragna to raise an eyebrow.

"Oh? And what are going to do about it?" Ragna in a rare moment of amusement, taunted the assassin.

Shiori's ear blew out steam, she took out her poison needles and leaped towards Ragna.

"I'll give you the slowest and most painful poison!" Shiori threatened.

She delivered her attack, much too the shock of Mai and the other girls who were in the area.

"Shiori!? Stop!" Mai pleaded.

However, too late, Shiori's attack barely hit Ragna who underestimated Shiori's speed and ended up with a papercut on his cheek.

"Oh my God! Ragna! You need immediate medical attention." Tsubaki insisted.

All the girls were even more worried when Ragna shrugged them off, "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Noel appeared and told him, "No you won't, the poison will take effect!" she worried.

Shiori smirked, "Hehe! They're right, you know, pretty soon, you'll be feeling pain like nothing else. In three, two, one…"

All the girls in the area held their breath waiting for the worst, instead Ragna just looked bored at Shiori.

"And what was meant to happen?" Ragna asked as if there wasn't a thing to worry about.

Shiori began stuttering, "I'm-impossible how!? That poison is designed to kill an elephant!"

Ragna looked in shock, "The heck, why would you use something that powerful. Besides, it won't work on me. See?"

Ragna wiped his formerly cut cheek and a wet substance coated his pointing finger.

Kajun looked at it closely, "Hm? Is this the poison that was in your system?"

Ragna shrugged, "Maybe, I don't know what poison looks like. But yeah, I don't get affected by poisons."

Kajun nodded whilst pulling her notebook out, "I see, this is curious." she said her hands wrote furiously into her notes.

Makoto, Noel and Tsubaki expressed their amazement at Ragna's immunity.

"Wow! You have some incredible abilities Ragna!" Tsubaki complimented, followed by Makoto.

"Holy cow, it'll take a whole lot to beat ya!" Makoto exclaimed in excitement.

Noel told him, "So you never get sick? Oh, you're so lucky!"

Ragna scratched his cheek showing he was obviously flattered by their compliments, but it was what the girls around him were dressed in that amplified his discomfort.

"Yeah, thanks but um… aren't you guys suppose to wear clothes you clean with?" He pointed out their unusual clothes.

Makoto blew her lips, "What are ya? Crazy!? Don't you feel how friggin' hot it is out here!?" she reminded him. Ragna closed his eyes whilst she spoke, Makoto wearing a Bikini and moving around wildly like she normally does, made it difficult to think.

Ragna shrugged, "Well, yeah, but, did you all have to wear swimsuits?" he really had to ask that question.

Noel piped up, "Yes we did, it's way too hot and not to mention, it's a nice day for a tan!" she cheered. Fortunately, Ragna wasn't affected by Noel, not one bit.

Tsubaki, who was dressed in an olive swimsuit with a skirt, nodded and spoke up, "It is to, Noel, besides, we don't ever get the opportunity to wear our bathing suits that often." she reasoned.

Ragna gave up trying to low-key get them to cover up, "If you're comfortable in your own skin, I guess you can do whatever."

Kajun then said to him, "Besides, just look at them over their, they're in their swimming trunks. Why not join us?" she suggested with a smile.

Ragna looked up and saw three guys he had come to know Taro, Akane and of course Jin, the one being a creep who was just staring at him and somehow, no one noticed.

Ragna clicked his tongue, "Like hell I'll join that asshole." he muttered.

Everyone caught this, especially Tsubaki who frowned, "Ragna? Can you please just get along with Jin. You've been like this to him ever since he was cleared yesterday." she scolded him and pleaded, hoping that maybe he'd get along with Jin.

Ragna turned his back and resumed melting the ice.

"Maybe if he stops staring at me, then we'll see what happens." he replied as he continued melting the ice.

Tsubaki wore an upset look upon her face; Ragna and Jin had once again met through a proper introduction yesterday.

* * *

 _ **Flashback, Yesterday afternoon.**_

 _All the girls were at the swimming pool trying to melt the ice. But they halted when Tsubaki noticed a familiar face that she had come to 'admire'._

 _"Jin! You're okay! How are you feeling!?" Tsubaki asked with joy clear as day in her eyes._

 _Jin gave her a gentle smile he only gifted to her._

 _"Tsubaki, you sure are chipper today, and don't worry I'm fine. Professor Cypher gave me some special treatment to make sure what happened to me won't happen again." Jin promised as he walked within arms length of Tsubaki._

 _Tsubaki glowed and told him how wonderful that was to hear. Eventually Makoto called out to those two._

 _"Hey! Over here, Jin! You didn't get to meet Ragna properly last time!" Makoto reminded Jin._

 _Noel appeared and nervously called, "T-that's right, this time you two can be friends!" she brightened up the atmosphere. However, Jin gave Noel a haughty look causing the poor girl to shriek. Fortunately, Ragna chose this moment to intervene._

" _Hey, Jin, the hell are you staring at Noel like that for?" Ragna stepped forward allowing Noel to some form of protection._

 _Seeing this, Jin's glare intensified but he gave Ragna his usual smile, but Ragna could see the strain behind it._

" _I don't know what you're talking about, but where were we? Ah yes!" he offered his hand._

" _Pleased to meet you… Ragna Mitsuyoshi." he said with his eyes closed with a gentle smile hiding sinister glee._

 _Ragna mustered up a grin with clenched teeth whilst taking the offered hand and accepted a battle of crushing grip strength contest._

" _Nice to meet you too… Mister… Jin ice-cold popsicle up his ass, Kisaragi." Ragna sarcastically replied causing everyone in the area to gasp._

" _Ragna! That was uncalled for…" Tsubaki tried to scold however, Jin interrupted._

" _It quite alright Tsubaki, everyone has their unique way of expressing their affection. Don't you agree?" Jin said making everyone nod and approve of his point._

 _Until Jin said, "Mister, Ragna dark, mysterious badass wannabe, Mitsuyoshi."_

 _At that moment, everyone's jaws dropped._

 _Tsubaki shook in place, "J-Jin?" until Jin gave her a smile making her swoon again._

 _Whilst with the others, Kajun and Mai said to each other,_

" _They aren't going to get along anytime now, right?" Mai told her._

 _Kajun nodded, "Yes, someone who actually gets on Mr Kisaragi's nerves. This is… curious…" she wondered upon the meeting of these two._

* * *

 **Current time, 8:30AM**

However, it seemed that no matter what, Ragna and Jin weren't going to on friendly terms with each other. Tsubaki sighed in defeat before returning to melting the ice.

Makoto bounced up next to Tsubaki due to having witnessed the redhead sighing.

"Hey Tsubaki! What's up with you?" Makoto asked with concern.

Tsubaki looked towards Makoto and told her, "I don't understand what's with Jin and Ragna. Normally Jin gets along with everyone besides Noel, but never does he act out. And Ragna just seems unable to stand the sight of him."

Makoto nodded with her eyes closed and hummed in agreement and understanding, "Hm! Hmph! I get cha! But it's not that hard to see, those two first met fighting each other to death. Just remember that, then it's easy to see why they might not get along with each other at first. Besides, just look at me, before I couldn't stand everyone until you and Noel became friends with me." she reminded Tsubaki.

Hearing the half-beast woman's words of reason and logic, Tsubaki suddenly gained a sliver of hope for Jin and Ragna before she smiled at Makoto. She gave her squirrelly friend her gratitude.

"Wow, I never thought of it as… thanks you Makoto. I needed to hear that!" Tsubaki illuminated with hope. Makoto hearing this, put her hands on her chest and jumped a bit in satisfaction.

"No worries! You're my friend after all!" Makoto told her but was interrupted by Noel's girly squeal.

"AWWW! It's a panda!" Noel announced her finding which made all the girls within the area move towards her to see it.

"Oh let me see, holy! It's so adorable!" Makoto swooned at the tiny Panda who was clutched onto an iceberg.

Tsubaki looked at it and her eyes glossed over at the adorable thing.

Kajun stepped up closer to it and said, "Aw, what's this little guy doing here? Did you lose your parents?" Kajun asked in a rare moment of being girly in Mai's knowledge who giggled at the girls.

"Hehehe! That's girls for you." Mai thought aloud, unknown to her, Ragna had caught this again, but chose not to point this out and instead kept his mouth shut. He thought it best to not make the assumption that all girls were the same.

As he working however, he heard all the girls behind him scream.

"Look out! The panda is falling!" Noel screamed.

Ragna turned around only to see that the tiny Panda's lips had made contact with Mai's. After that, the Panda suddenly gained a red, angry aura and began leaping from Mai to the other girls.

First, it leapt into Makoto's cleavage and struggled to get out.

"N-No! You dirty little… get out of there!" Makoto panicked. Fortunately for her, it escaped, but Tsubaki was next to suffer as it's paws gripped tightly where her nipples would be.

"Eep! Don't do that! No!" Tsubaki's face burned in embarrassment at the Panda's actions. Like last time, it went after Noel next, she fell on her butt and the Panda dove right between her legs and did… who knows what.

Noel moaned and screamed, "Ah! No! Not there! Ah! Get off me!" she threw the panda off into Kajun's direction.

Kajun simply stood where she was and smiled thinking she could catch it. However, not being the most coordinated person, it came at her quicker than she calculated. The Panda somehow got behind her and into the valley in her bottoms.

"Oh my! This is surprising!" Kajun yelped in surprise at where the small animal wound up.

For her luck, it left and leaped high into the air towards Mai who began to sweat in fear at what might happen to her.

'Oh no! It's after me! This like when Shiori and Chachakaka groped me and Kajun the other time!' Mai thought, however, a gloved hand catch the little bugger before it could continue it's assault.

"And that's enough of that." Ragna stated as his right hand which was clutching the Panda glow faintly.

"Now what was up with that Panda!?" Makoto glared at it along with Tsubaki who sent the little thing a stare full of hatred.

Ragna shrugged, "Don't know, ask the smart girl right there." he pointed his head in Kajun's direction.

"Well, I think it's because Shiori had kissed Mai before the Panda did which gave it Shiori's attributes." Kajun theorised.

They all absorbed this before glaring at the little Panda who was returned back to normal due to Ragna's spell.

"Still… we are watching you little guy." Tsubaki spat towards the Panda, forever engraving the image of Pandas being evil in her heart.

Ragna's forehead became drenched in sweat, not due to the heat, but at the intensity the girls glared at the poor Panda. He moved it closer to his torso.

"Hey ease up on the stares guys, this little guy probably doesn't even know what he did." Ragna told them as the Panda jumped off of him and crawled away to a safer location. Much to Noel's disappointment.

"Oh… little Panda…" Noel whined. Ragna looked to her and said, "Yeah, yeah Noel, too bad, let's get back to work." which reminded everyone to continue melting the ice.

A few moments pass by, Ragna suddenly slowed down and looked at the other guys besides himself. Noticing this, Mai stopped and asked him.

"What's wrong Ragna? Are you tired already?" she incurred and got a shake of the head as a response.

"No, just that guy Taro, is he still depressed about himself?" Ragna wondered aloud.

Mai traced Ragna's line of sight and same the same scene as he did, Taro standing besides Akane and Jin, but seemingly hasn't said a word or even do something stupid to get Akane to tease him.

"Yeah, I hope he gets better… he's been like for a week." Mai hoped the best for one of her guy friends.

Ragna however dismissed that and gruffly said, "Meh, if he wants to be like that, don't bother worrying about him."

Mai's eyes widened before narrowing into a somewhat angry stare, she told him, "Ragna!? How could you say that? Don't you see how upset he is?" she asked.

Ragna nodded and replied, "I can see the obvious, but he obviously wants to be left alone." in a tone that sounded as if he cared about nothing.

Mai grew more upset with her real male friend and retorted, "That doesn't mean we can't help."

Ragna stopped his part on cleaning and fought back, "I tried to cheer the guy up and he's still upset, so why should I waste my breath again?"

"Ragna!" Mai almost yelled. Fortunately, with Kajun being close by, she intervened.

"Excuse me you two, but can you two please keep it down." Kajun asked.

Mai and Ragna looked to Kajun, before they both looked around and saw that everyone was staring at them. Flustered and embarrassed, Mai bowed and apologised for disrupting everyone. Ragna on the other hand began to leave the area.

"Hey, Ragna! Where are you going!?" Noel called out to him.

To which he said, "Walking back to my room, I still need to find some other things I want to do."

Makoto piped up, "Hold it buddy! You're not going to leave us with a half-assed job!" she pointed out the barely melted iceberg Ragna was next to.

As a response, Ragna charged up his right arm with seifer before thrusting it into the iceberg and unleashing a black substance that enveloped the iceberg.

The girls and the other guys who witness this took a step back at Ragna's power before they saw the black substance disappear showing that the iceberg was now gone.

"That's all my work done, see you all next time." Ragna hurried off to his room.

"Ragna…" Mai silently said his name.

Kajun moved up to her and asked, "Are you okay Mai? You and him seemed to be having quite a heated argument."

Mai let out a tired breath, "Oh it's nothing, I was just saying that we should still cheer Taro up despite our efforts." she told her.

Kajun nodded in agreement and replied, "I see, Taro does seem a little down lately. Hopefully we can eventually do something that can cheer him up."

Mai smiled at her quirky friend, "Finally, someone who agrees with me! For now, let's get back to work, can't have Ragna outdo us." she exclaimed in a brighter mood.

Kajun smiled, "And that, we shall." she along with everyone else continued trying to melt the ice for the next couple of hours until they managed to melt as much ice as Ragna did.

* * *

 **Late afternoon, with Ragna**

True to his word, Ragna had indeed found himself in his room, at this moment, he was agonisingly going over his day so far and couldn't help but feel quite ashamed with himself; his heated argument with Mai over Taro.

Sitting in his chair, he was trying to look through his list of extra-curricular classes and clubs he wanted to do, but his frustration with his own attitude made that a challenge. He stood up abruptly whilst scratching his head furiously, he almost pulled his hair with how hard he pulled, and walked around his dorm for a while.

"Argh! Why do I even care?" he questioned no one in particular. At that moment, a refined voice he was familiar with hit his ears.

"Who knows? Only you know the answer to your predicament." Rachel floated down onto the desk Ragna had just left.

Ragna turned to face her and told her, "Hey Rachel. What's going on?" he addressed her by name which surprised both Nago and Gii as well as herself.

Rachel pointed this out, "Calling me by my name, are you? I'm terribly humbled that I have seemed to have found myself at a crossroads for words." Rachel teased in her unique aristocratic way.

Ragna growled a little but didn't bite back, "Look Rachel, I'm just not in the mood alright. I just think I did something that I regret and I'm not sure why." he admitted his confusion with his emotions.

A heavy silence filled the air, almost thick enough to choke someone, eventually it became too much for the little red bat Gii.

"Okay then Ragna, so what happened to ya then?" Gii asked just for something to fill the suffocating vacuum mankind named silence.

Ragna clicked his tongue in reluctance, but all this wondering and thinking had led to nowhere with an answer. He spilled his guts.

"Okay, you see, I was on ice melting duty with the girls I made friends with. And there's these two guys I also speak with from time to time. But ah… Remember that chick with the ribbons? We ended up fighting over this guy Taro." Ragna he told them.

Nago chose this moment to tell a joke," Hm!? A man and a woman fighting over a man!? This Taro must be quite dashing if you have him in your sights!" Nago teased making Gii laugh.

Ragna grit his teeth,"Hey! It's not like that!" he told them, but the stuffed animals kept laughing at his expense. However, to his surprise, Rachel wasn't laughing, but actual stopped the laughter.

"Gii! Nago! Enough!" she commanded her companions.

They stopped and listened intently to what Rachel had in mind. If she didn't want to pick on Ragna, which is almost never, then there was nothing to laugh about.

"Ragna, from what I can see, you're upset with yourself and don't know the solution to your problem." Rachel spelled it out to which Ragna nodded.

"That… Sounds right I guess, but something about seeing that Taro guy all depressed over his weakness just bugs me." Ragna told her.

Rachel took this in before replying, "Well, you have your answer. Tell me Ragna, why do you seek strength?"

Ragna was taken back by her question but thought carefully about it, "I want strength so I could defeat Terumi…" however he saw that Rachel wasn't satisfied with that answer.

This made him think more thoroughly and deeply about his dilemma, why did he want strength in the first place.

'I wanted strength… because I lost everything once since I never had enough strength. I wanted to be strong so I could protect what's precious to me.' Ragna's eyes opened with true clarity to see that Rachel gave him a sincere smile.

"You finally realise it Ragna. Why you want strength, and why this Taro bothers you. You and he have been at that same place where it dawns upon one how weak and powerless they are." Rachel explained to him clearly.

But Ragna didn't need Rachel's words to understand any more.

"I know how he feels right now because I felt that way before. Well, uh… Sorry Bunny Leech, but I got things to do. Seeya later." he waved farewell and didn't get one back as he had already rushed out of his room.

Nago decided to question her lady, "Madam Rachel, you sure are helpful today, may I ask why you are helping that scoundrel so much?"

Rachel put on a small smile, "I have seen too many timelines where Ragna pits everyone against him. This time, I hope him being here will change that." Rachel revealed.

Gii then asked, "Arh? Okay? But isn't that like, against the rules?"

Rachel smirked, "Well, the observers deem it fit to alter timeliness when it suits them. So what I'm doing is fair in comparison."

Nago and Gii agreed, "Yeah, you go Princess!"

Rachel then had a roses envelop her, "Now then, it's time for my late night tea." she disappeared back to her mansion.

* * *

 **The boys dormitories, High School section**

The boys dormitories in the high school section, whilst still lavish and spoiled with rich furniture alongside stylish decor. It paled in comparison to what the Seniors such as Ragna and the other college students like himself were given. But that wasn't what Ragna was here to do, in fact, the location he was currently at wasn't his destination.

"Let's see, where was the Library again?" he looked around the corridor for a bit, but after a half-hearted two head turns, he just continued onwards with hope that wandering around will eventually lead him to the library.

Unexpectedly, he noticed a familiar figure wandering about the corridors which caused him to pause.

'Taro? By himself?' he noted, thinking about how down the guy had been all week and Rachel's earlier talk, Ragna approached the tall man and called to him.

"Hey Taro! You got a minute?" he called after him.

Taro who was surprised jumped and replied, "Ragna? Whoa, I don't see you around that often, what do you need me for?" he asked still surprised by Ragna calling for him.

Ragna shrugged and said, "Well I was wondering where the library is and thought maybe you would know."

Tari nodded, "Oh sure! It just in between the gym and classrooms to the left of it. So what are doing in there? Studying?" he inquired.

Ragna shook his head, "No, I hate studying."

"Then why do you want to go there?" Taro asked hoping to clear his confusion.

Ragna told him, "I heard a few rumors about the Library having something in there. And I kind of want to see what if it's true or not."

Taro nodded, "Hmhm, I see, I heard the stories, but the ones I heard says it only appears at night… unless…" Taro's brain started to realise Ragna's plan.

"Wait, you don't plan on going to the library at night? It locked at those hours, any intruders will be punished severely by the council." Taro informed Ragna.

To which the albino haired man replied, "And that's why you're going to help me get in."

Taro took a step back, "Eh!? Me? But why?" he questioned.

Ragna put a hand on his head and explained, "I still don't know this school very well and I heard you always in there."

Taro nodded, "Well, that's because Jinny is always studying there and I'm just keeping him safe… Not like he needs me to protect him…" Taro mood dipped again.

Ragna almost wanted to scream, but kept his mouth shut, "If you were useless, then I wouldn't be asking for your help now would I?" he asked rhetorically.

Taro looked up in shock and couldn't argue with the white-haired man's logic.

Ragna gave the tall guy a grin, "So what do you say? You wanna help me?" he asked once more.

Taro thought over Ragna's words about himself not being useless and eventually came to a decision.

"Sure! I'm in, so when do we meet up?" Taro asked. Ragna gave him the details.

"At 8, around the library entrance. Anyway, nice talking with ya, seeya later." Ragna took off.

Taro waved back at him, "Seeya Ragna!" with a bit of his cheer back into his system. When all was said and done, he left for his dorms and waited until the agreed time.

* * *

 **Girls Dormitories, High school section**

Within the dorms of Kajun, Mai and to some extent, Shiori's. The detective team of pretty girls had busied themselves with some homemade dinner courtesy of everyone's contributions, save Noel's who tailored her dishes to Mai.

However, the ponytailed girl had done nothing but stare a hole into her plate of 'cake' which had a miasma to cover the contents of it. Normally, Mai would gladly chow down on anything Noel made, especially when she was upset, but this time, she doubted eating would solve her problems. Noel noticed this and asked.

"Mai, what's wrong? You haven't had a single bite of your food yet." Noel looked at her with genuine worry in her eyes, which translated to her voice.

Mai returned a nod of acknowledgement, "Yeah, sorry Noel… I

I just don't feel like eating today." much to the surprise of her friends.

Tsubaki nitpicked, "That's odd, normally you would demolish anything that Noel makes. Are you feeling unwell by any chance?" she expressed her concern tenderly.

Mai waved both her hands defensively, "No nothing's wrong, I'm just not hungry today."

Makoto tilted her head, "Huh? But you haven't had anything all day besides Noel's mousse." she recalled accurately.

Mai shrunk back further into her couch and at that moment, Kajun hit the nail on the coffin.

"I believe I know what's going on, it's about Ragna isn't it?"

Mai looked up with slight shock in her eyes before nodding.

Noel shuffled towards Mai's couch before she placed a hand on her shoulder, "You two did seem like you were arguing about, you don't mind telling us what it was about Mai?"

Mai took a deep breath, "Well, all of know that Taro has been a little down lately, it was about whether or not we should help cheer him up."

Tsubaki nodded, "I see, but where does this lead exactly?" not sure why they'd argue over that.

Mai's eyes narrowed before continuing, "He kind of just blew Taro off in a way that ticked me off and then you know what happened? He left early and haven't seen him since." Mai concluded.

This got all the girls thinking about Ragna, before Kajun insisted, "Who knows, maybe he's just putting up a front and does care about Taro. But just doesn't want to admit it."

They all agreed at her point.

"Yeah, she does have a good point, we thought Ragna was a bully until he apologised to Makoto about throwing her off." Noel spoke up.

Tsubaki nodded, "That's right, maybe he's just acting tough and doesn't what to show how much he cares, you saw how he comforted Noel on his first day, remember?"

Hearing this, a small, yet warm smile appeared upon Mai's face, "Yeah, maybe you guys are right! But we'll still have to see about that." Mai returned to which they all gave a small nod of agreement.

Makoto bursted out with, "Okay, enough about the touchy stuff! How about we go explore the library together later tonight!?"

A flicker of light appeared in everyone's eyes.

"That's right! We never got to finish exploring the library, why not!?" Noel cheered much to everyone's amusement.

Tsubaki added to the happiness, "Maybe we could use the Truth Grimoire to discover any more secrets in there!"

The girls all laughed or giggled in Kajun's case. The scene warmed Mai's heart.

'Girls… They always make your world brighter no matter what.'

They looked towards Mai.

"So what do ya say, you in Mai?" Makoto asked.

Mai put on a bright smile before agreeing.

"Yeah! I'm in!" which made everyone cheer one last time before their curfew.

* * *

 **7:55PM - Kajun and Mai's dorm**

Kajun who was still dressed in her uniform because of tonight's plan, was just conversing with Mai who was struggling to not moan at Shiori's snuggling between her clothed bosom. At the moment they were discussing about tonight's plan and other future related events.

"So Mai, what do you think we might find in the library tonight?" Kajun inquired.

Once Mai, who had managed to keep the blonde assassin in place, she gave it some thought.

"Well it wouldn't be the Azure Grimoire, that's for sure, but if we're being realistic, then maybe something amazing we have never seen before." she wondered in awe.

Kajun chuckled at the girl. "That's quite a broad spectrum of things Mai. But let's say one of those 'amazing things' turns out to be something that can cure your super taste. What do you think you'll do then?"

That was a serious question that Mai had often contemplated and always had difficulty answering. However, there was one thing that was certain.

" I'm not completely sure about what I'll do, only that I want to spend most of life with all of you." Mai answered.

Kajun smiled at her answer, "I see, me too. I want to spend more time with everyone as well."

Shiori who was silent between Mai's bosom, spoke up, "Lady Mai! I want to spend more time with you too!" as she molested the poor girl.

However, Mai along with Kajun only laughed as they all agreed on that one thing; being with your friends for life.

This was soon brought to an end when a knock on their door was heard. The occupants all looked to the entrance of their dorm before Kajun said.

"It's time… Shall we get going?" Kajun asked.

Mai and Shiori, who let the former free, both nodded their heads in agreement. They all stood up before walking to the door and opening it to reveal Noel, Tsubaki and Makoto who was doing her best to stay quiet.

"Hey guys, are you ready?" Noel asked in a hushed voice.

Mai replied to her, "Yeah, before the day we were born." causing the trio on the other side of the door to grin.

"Alright then, let's getta move on! Tsubaki will fill y'all in." Makoto informed them in a hushed voice.

The group of detectives began to march towards the library doors, whilst Tsubaki was explaining the plan to everyone.

"Okay, so the plan is, Noel is going to disable all the Ars security locks and alarms on the main entrances before we sneak in. Then we all search the areas we didn't get to explore before." Tsubaki explained the plan.

They all nodded, Noel almost cheered,"Leave it to me! I'll unlock the doors."

They all shared a slight giggle, "We're counting on you Noellers." their bushy tailed friend encouraged.

It was only a second later that they arrived at the main entrance to the Library.

Mai told Noel, "Alright Noel, you know what to do." Noel smiled before reaching to the door.

"Huh?" Confusion spread upon Noel's face.

"Noel what's wrong? Aren't you going to disable the Ars Magus?" Tsubaki asked.

Noel turned to face the rest of the group, "That's the thing, it's already been disabled."

Gasped we're heard from the group and they wandered through all the possibilities.

"Could someone else have been here before us? The librarium perhaps, or cleaner." Tsubaki thought.

They kept thinking twice about this mission of theirs until Makoto scoffed, "Nah! Unlikely, they probably forgot to set the thing up. Come on let's go right in." she Walt's right through the door.

Seeing Makoto enter the library without a care in the world. They all thought why not? So they all followed after Makoto who was just waiting for them.

"Alright, so do we split up or do we…" Mai was about to finish until they heard footsteps.

*Step* *Step* *Step*

Noel and Makoto jumped at the sudden sound. Kajun looked to Tsubaki and said, "Looks like we're not alone, should we turn back?"

Tsubaki looked at Noel and Makoto who were frightened, but determined to explore.

Facing Kajun she shook her head, "No, we've come too far. We'll just have to not get caught." she insisted.

Kajun nodded and Mai took it upon herself to keep them safe.

"Don't worry, we'll take them on together." she assured, then Shiori who had sparkles in her eyes stated "And I'll protect you Lady Mai!" to which the said girl grinned and thanked her.

Knowing that someone may be in the library with them, they chose to stick together whilst they searched for anything using the Truth Grimoire.

So far nothing of interest popped up.

"Guys hurry, I can feel those footsteps coming closer." Makoto edged them on.

"We're trying, but this place is huge, don't rush us." Tsubaki pleaded.

However, they heard the footsteps stop immediately before them.

"They… Are…on the other side…" Mai stressed each word.

A few moments passed, they eventually heard footsteps coming around the corner along with a light. Fear was evident in the detectives' eyes and their breaths hitched.

Mai however, dash around the corner and thrust her hand out towards whoever it was.

"Whoa!? Huh!? Mai-Mai?" a shocked Taro replied recognised her.

Mai's eyes widened in surprise, "Eh? Taro? What are you doing here?"

To which the guy replied, "I could ask the same of all of you, but uh… Ragna told me to come with him and we heard footsteps."

Tsubaki approached him, "Wait, Ragna told you to come here? Where is he…"

"Hey Taro, did you find who those footsteps belonged to… Oh, uh? Hey guys, weird seeing you here." Ragna expressed his surprise.

The girls just looked at him, "Ragna? What are you doing here?" Noel asked.

Ragna scratched the back of his head, "I heard there was some stuff that goes on here at night and asked if this guy wanted to help."

They blinked at this and Makoto asked, "Wait why did you ask Taro for help?"

Ragna looked at her before saying, "Cos I needed someone who knew the area and someone to watch my back."

They took a while to absorb this information, but eventually they all accepted it.

"That's fine I guess, for a second we thought you two were the clean up crew." Tsubaki jested.

Ragna smiled a little, "Yeah? Me and him thought so too. So what were you guys doing here again?"

Makoto answered, "Well, we're here to find more secrets this place is hiding, hey, since you two are here, why not join us?"

Ragna clicked his tongue, "I don't know, I was hoping to…"

"Yeah, sure, why not, this place is creepy at night." Taro accepted the girls offer much to Ragna's chagrin.

Noel cheered, "Yay! The more the merrier!" which put a smile on everyone's faces excluding Ragna.

The group continued to search the library whilst Ragna stayed behind, however, Kajun and Mai stepped up to him.

"So let me ask you again, why did you ask Taro for help?" Mai asked with genuine curiosity.

Ragna refused to look at her and Kajun, "I was getting annoyed by how much he was mopping and thought maybe taking him along would make him stop."

Kajun however, giggled, "So… In other words, you wanted to cheer him up and so you do care about him." causing the white haired man to growl.

"No I do not, just… take it however you want." he walked ahead to ignore the giggles towards him.

Kajun then whispered to Mai, "See, he does care, he just doesn't like to admit it."

Mai laughed at herself as well, "Yeah, wow how do all of you girls guess things so accurately?" she wondered.

Kajun smirked, "A woman's intuition is more accurate than a man's educated guess, something that you still don't quite have." she playfully teased.

At this Mai wholeheartedly agreed, no matter how much she thought over situations with as much brain power she could muster, these girls' guesses had always been closer to the answer than her own.

Eventually, they caught up with the rest of the group whom were discussing about covering more ground by splitting up.

"Let's see, Noel should definitely stay with Makoto along with the mirror as well as I, since I doubt Shiori will leave Mai's side." she turned her sights on the aforementioned blonde molesting Mai.

Ragna agreed, "So then, Noel, Makoto and you makes a group of three, so does shorty, Mai and Kajun. What about me and Taro, we just stick together?"

Tsubaki nodded, "Exactly as you two were before, you two can check the west wing, Noel, Makoto and myself will investigate the East wing whilst Mai, Kajun and Shiori can go check the Northern wing."

However, Taro mentioned, "Wait, what about the South wing? Aren't we going to check that part?"

Makoto shook her head, "Nah! We already checked that part out ages ago and found nothing. Now let's go treasure hunting!" she marched towards the East wing.

Noel squeaked a bit, "H-Hey Makoto! Wait for us!" she chased after the squirrel girl.

Tsubaki quickly looked back and forth between her two best friends and the two boys. She gave a polite curtsy before rushing after Noel and Makoto.

This left the boys and the other group of three girls who were now telling each other that they see them later.

"Well that's that, guess we'll see you three later." Ragna told them.

Mai nodded, "Yeah that's too bad, I was hoping to speak to you again soon. Well seeya."

Ragna nodded and turned to Taro who got the message to begin walking to the West wing. However, Ragna stayed behind for a minute catching the attention of the three girls.

"About earlier today… I just… look I'm sorry… I didn't mean to get all pissy with ya." Ragna tried to apologise but Mai interrupted him.

"It's alright! Seeing you here with Taro makes things much better, just promise me that you won't be afraid to admit you care." she asked of him causing him to blink in confusion.

Kajun continued, "What we mean is that we know you are a good person, so why not show it more often?"

Ragna scratched his head while he struggled to find a valid response, but gave up.

"I… never mind, I'll think about. Laters" he told them one last time before he caught up with Taro.

"Yeah, seeya soon." Mai replied before venturing off into the Northern Wing.

* * *

 **10 minutes later, Taro and Ragna**

The two men spent this time skimming through shelves of books that they thought might have something strange about it. But so far, nothing new other than a few kiddie books and much to their prolonged interest...

"Um… Ragna… could this be the amazing secret that the Library has?" Taro asked him with uncertainty.

Ragna shrugged, "Who knows… but I can't deny that it does seem amazing…" he agreed.

Taro then suggested opening it, "I know I shouldn't but I think we must open it."

Ragna stopped him "No, that thing is definitely not what we're looking for."

"But maybe the secret is in here." Taro fought back.

Ragna held one hand up and shot back, "In a porn magazine? Why would it in there, a better question is… why is it here?" he asked.

Taro thought about it, "Hm… maybe one of the past students brought it and left it here. Just maybe, this could be what we're looking for."

Ragna wanted to say something back, but couldn't. There wasn't anything else that looked out of place and just allowed it.

"Just get on with it, I can only imagine what the girls reactions would be if this turned out to be the secret." Ragna mused.

However, when Taro tried to open it, the magazine wouldn't budge.

"Wah? The pages… they're, stuck together?" Taro told him of his findings. Ragna turned green and told Taro.

"What!? Ew! Let go of that thing now!"

Taro blinked a bit before his mind processed what Ragna was telling him and did the same as Ragna.

"Yuck! I can't believe I touched that?" Taro expressed his disgust.

Ragna took a step back and pointed to him, "You don't touch me until you wash your hands." he stressed each word as if he was trying to make it seem more important.

Taro got the message, "I promise, I will not touch you until my hands are clean."

"Good, now let's get going…" Ragna was about to suggest when a piercing scream had penetrated their ears.

"What the!? Was that Noel?" Taro said.

Ragna nodded, "Sounds like it, come on, let's go!" he commanded with Taro right behind him.

After following the source of the scream, the two boys found Noel, Tsubaki and Makoto huddled together with the Truth Grimoire in hand.

"Noel! Makoto! Tsubaki! What happened!?" Taro called for answers.

Noel slowly spoke with fear evident in her voice, "I… used… this… and a…. G-g-g-g…"

Ragna had enough of her stuttering, "Yeah, just say it, what did you guys see?"

Makoto finally cracked, "We saw a Ghost!" she exclaimed.

Hearing this, Taro gasped whilst Ragna began sweating profusely, "D-d-did you say g-g-ghost?" hoping that he heard them wrong.

Tsubaki confirmed, "She's not lying, a ghost just popped out of a book after Noel used the Truth Grimoire on it."

They all took this in and Taro looked at Ragna and noticed he was a little jumpy.

"Hey Ragna, you seem a little sweaty, are you okay?" he asked.

Ragna spoke at a rapid pace, "Y-Yeah! I'm fine! I'm not afraid of ghosts or anything, that's right. Ghost aren't scary, haha!"

Taro tilted his head in confusion, "What? What did you say? I couldn't hear you."

"Nothing! I said I'm fine!" he replied hastily and Taro dropped it.

It was at that moment the other group showed up, "Ragna! Taro! What happened!? Is Noel and the others okay?" Mai worried.

Taro replied, "Yeah, she's okay, just a little frightened. They told us they saw a ghost." But Ragna interrupted, "Don't say that!"

Taro blinked, "Huh? Why? What's up with you?"

Ragna tried to play it cool.

"Nothing, I… I just don't want to talk right now, especially about ghosts, yep that's right haha." Ragna said.

Unknown to him, a white apparition began to phase through the bookshelf behind him much to the fear of the others watching.

Mai called out to Ragna, "Ragna! Behind you!"

Ragna looked at her, "W-What's behind me? Ghost? No, no, you're joking there's no way that ghost are…" he turned around as his words faded.

What he saw was the figure of a girl dressed in a frilly white dress, she had long flowing hair done in curls that reached the small of her back, but what stood out to him was her lack of feet.

'She's levitating? A ghost!?'

Ragna let out the girliest and highest pitched scream to be ever recorded in history.

"AHHHHH! Oh my god! A Ghost!" Ragna screamed.

After he had his moment, a few awkward seconds of silence passed by until laughter could be heard.

"Pfft! Pfft! HAHAHAHAHAHA! Did you hear how he screamed!? OH HO HO… HO!" Makoto began dying of laughter.

Soon Tsubaki and Noel joined in, "That was... You have some… *kekeke* Ha! Impressive vocals Ragna… hehehe." she tried her best to be polite.

Ragna began to feel heat reach his cheeks. Before he could defend himself.

"You should have heard yourself Ragna, hehehe! Your voice was even higher than mine! Da hahaha!" she giggled.

Ragna got a little pissed, "H-Hey! Shut the hell up!"

However, Kajun's giggled began to resound, "Oh my! To scream that loud, is most *Fufufu* curious!"

Ragna's face burned and he couldn't find anything to say.

Shiori continued, "Hahaha! I finally know your weakness!" she laughed at her 'sworn' rival's fear.

"Hey! I can still kick your ass halfway across the field Shorty!" Ragna shot back hoping to preserve some of his manhood.

Mai however, said her part, "Oh boy! Hehehe! You should have… haha! I wish I had a camera! Haha!"

Ragna glared at her, "Glad you don't."

Then much to his chagrin, Taro laughed like he hadn't for the past week, "Buwah Hahahahaha! Oh man! I'm crying! You, hehe, you just made my day man! Hahahaha!"

Ragna covered his face with his right hand and just wanted to die.

Then another set of laughter ended the others. They looked at the ghost, with Ragna shifting back quickly which only caused the ghost to laugh further.

"Teehee! Hahaha!" the ghost girl giggled which made Ragna's spine shiver.

"N-No! Please, don't possess." he begged, but the ghost only laughed more.

"I'm… hehehe, I'm sorry! It's just, I haven't seen anyone in so long and you just… oh you don't know how happy you made me, haha!" the ghost told them.

Setting their laughter aside, Kajun approached the ghost, "So, you're a real ghost?"

The ghost nodded, "Yes, I've been dead for over 50 years with no one to talk to… can't blame anyone for not finding me since I was stuck in that book for so long."

They nodded, however, Shiori demanded, "Hey, tell us your name Ghost."

Mai chided the blonde who immediately became an innocent child once more.

The ghost smiled, "It's alright, I'm Luna Becker, as you see, I used to be a student here until I died."

Mai approached Luna and asked, "So, can you please tell us how you died here?"

Luna agreed more than happy to tell her story, "Sure, I loved the library more than any other place in the Academy… it wasn't just because of the books that had everything I wanted to learn, but also as a place to escape the hard parts of Academy life." she ended wistfully.

Noel who was already beginning to understand this girl asked her to continue, "Yes, Luna, please continue."

Luna lifted her face up revealing her hidden beauty; her lightly tanned oval face, sparkling purple eyes hidden under long lashes and full pink lips.

"Of course! Anyhow, I ended up falling asleep in the library just when they decided to do extension work on the Library. And before I knew it, I was trapped. The place I saw as my personal haven, became my prison and long before they finished upgrading… I had already died of starvation and thirst…" she ended solemnly.

All the girls were openingly crying and sobbing at Luna's story.

"Oh! Luna, to have died horribly like that… I don't know what to say." Tsubaki wiped her tears like everyone else.

Luna replied, "That's okay, all of you already gave me my deepest desire."

Mai inquired, "And that would be?"

Luna smiled at Ragna who paled at her stare, "Having people to talk to and that man that there, with the white-hair, hehe! You made me happier than I ever was when I was alive!" she admitted.

Ragna nodded, "O-Okay, I made you laugh, so can you stop creeping towards me."

Taro playfully jumped to his defence, "Don't worry Princess Raggy! I and my female companions will protect you! Hahaha!"

Ragna swore at him, "Don't call me that you asshole!"

Which only made everyone laugh louder.

The ghost girl Luna said to him, "Oh I'm sorry if I scare you… it's just that I never thought I could laugh like that, I never had any friends when I was alive."

Makoto jumped up in surprise, "Wait!? You never had friends!? But you're like smoking hot! Not even an admirer?"

Luna shook her head, "Oh no! Thanks for the compliment, but I was a very weird girl long story short… but that doesn't matter! This man here however, made me happier than I could have ever dreamed."

She then flew close to Ragna who was pinned against a wall with no escape.

"W-What are you doing!?" he asked with fear.

Luna smiled at him, "I really like you! You made me feel something I always admired my peers who I watched over the years. Thank you for making my dream of being able to laugh along with others a reality."

Ragna replied, "No! I don't want you to like me!" we made everyone giggle once more.

Ragna closed his eyes thinking she was going to possess him, but instead, felt something soft against his cheek.

"Chu! Thank you mister for making me happy!" Luna told him before she was slowly assimilated into Ragna's right arm.

Everyone watched the development before them.

"Does anyone know what's going on?" Tsubaki asked hoping for an answer.

Within Mai's mind, she knew what was happening as it had happened to her only a week or two ago. But it was Kajun who explained.

"It's only a theory, but I think Luna is giving Ragna her power." Kajun answered.

Noel piped up, "Wow! Does that mean Ragna is going to get even stronger?"

"Oh! If that's the case, then me and him have got to spar sometime soon!" Makoto exclaimed.

However, Luna gave her parting words,"I'm giving you a protection Grimoire, what it does depends on you, goodbye now." she eventually faded into Ragna's arm.

Once all was said and done, Ragna dropped on his behind and let out a strained breath he had been holding.

"Huahaha… I'm… not possess am I? Oh no, did she do something to me?" he asked everyone present.

They all stifled their giggles at the discovery of Ragna's fear of ghosts.

"Calm down Raggy! Nothing bad happened to you! Hehe!" Taro ensured him and offered to pick him up.

Ragna rejected it, "Hey! Remember, you still need to wash your hands!"

Taro blinked before remembering, "Oh right! I forgot! Still… you should have heard the way you screamed! Buahahaha!" he erupted into endless laughter, which set everyone off.

Frowning, Ragna stood up and exclaimed, "You assholes… just shut up."

Mai spoke up, "I don't think we'll be forgetting this anytime soon." and everyone agreed making Ragna's face burn even more.

Makoto replied, "Yep! To think you were afraid of ghosts is… pfft!" she couldn't finish her sentence.

Ragna had enough and began retreating to his room, "Screw you guys, I'm going to bed."

"Bye Ragna! Are you sure you want to go alone? There might ghosts." Kajun teased.

Ragna stiffened, but ended up rushing for his room while he heard the rest of the group laugh. A few more minutes laughing, they all calmed down.

"Oh man! I'm glad Ragna took me on this adventure, he made my day!" Taro told the Remix Heart group.

"MmHm! Glad you enjoyed yourself Taro, you seem to be feeling better now." Tsubaki asked to which the male grinned.

"With what just happened? How could I ever stay depressed!?" Taro asked them and they all giggled.

Eventually Mai spoke up, "As funny as it is, I don't think he'll like it too much if we hang it over his head."

Makoto however blew her lips, "Nah! This one staying as a big part of Remix Heart's archives!"

They all laughed once more before Kajun realised the time.

"Oh my! It's already 9:30, we should head back now." she suggested.

Without any resistance, they all agreed.

"Yeah! Tonight was the biggest adventure we had so far! Let's call it a night!" Noel cheered.

"As you said, let's get to bed." Tsubaki agreed as well as Makoto who let everyone know that she was tired by the way she yawned.

Mai looked to everyone one last time and said her part, "That was fun while it lasted, see you all tomorrow!"

Everyone in turn said goodbye before they all headed off to bed and they looked forward to seeing Ragna tomorrow.

* * *

 **Next Morning - 6:30AM, with Ragna**

The awaited day had come, Ragna woke up early hoping to clear his mind of last night's events which only made him groan.

"Oh, why did that have to happen?" he questioned the event whilst he exited his dorm with dread, a clear contrast to the hopes of his friends who had witnessed the event.

Travelling down flights of stairs, he noted the absence of many people along corridors as he stopped to look left and right each floor he had reached. To his comfort, there wasn't a soul in sight but he wasn't surprised, during his first week here, he had picked up of the fact most of the Academy students never liked to wake up before 7:30AM.

Soon he was out the main entrance to the senior dorms and was making his way to the cafeteria area; he hoped maybe a good meal would help him forget the embarrassing moment with the ghost girl, Luna.

The thought of her made him shiver, not only was she an actual ghost, but she was now residing in his right arm. Which reminded him…

'So that Luna girl or whatever, she said she gave me a Protection Grimoire? But I don't feel any different, maybe this is one of those things that take time to kick in.' he wondered.

As he ran through his thoughts, he let his eyes become lazy and observe his surroundings. On both sides of the walkway, he was treated to the gift of seeing long blades of grass blowing in the wind, which was spoiled with sunflowers, Dandelions and puffy spores he didn't know the name of. Their vibrant colours flickers between dark and bright as the morning sun slowly cast it's invigorating rays upon the Earth.

The sight put a smile on Ragna's face.

'Just like when I'd sneak off and lay under a tree… Some things don't change, no matter how I do I guess.' he spoke to himself.

Inevitably, this had to come to an end with that being his arrival at the Main building entrance. From there, he traced the path his mind had mapped to the Cafeteria. Once he was at the Cafeteria, he took a good look to find where the little Kitchen area was until he found it in the centre of the massive room.

Grinning, he was looking for to finding whatever there was to use for cooking until an unexpected presence almost spooked him.

"Hey there Ragna! I haven't seen you all week, how've you been?" a rather short Auburn-haired guy called to him.

Ragna turned almost instantly to face him.

"Gesus, you almost scared me, and I do not need that again. And yeah, I've been better, what about you?"

Akane waved his hands off to the side, "Same-same! Except for the fact that Taro last night seemed like his regular-self, said you made his day. What did you do?" he asked.

Ragna clenched his teeth, "That… I'd like to have be kept a secret."

Akane nodded, "Hey, no worries! I won't push! Just, whatever you did, you deserve a big thanks from me, it's just not the same when that big-idiot isn't being an idiot." he explained.

Ragna nodded, "Yeah, I can imagine, so what are you up so early for?" he asked knowing that Akane never gets up at this time due to an encounter of this nature has never once happened in the past week.

Akane snapped his fingers, "Oh yeah! I forgot to mention, you and I are on food duty!"

Ragna blinked, "Ah… food duty?"

Akane leaned forward and explained, "Oh right, food duty is something that the Academy has students do under the guise of teaching us to find our own food. Pretty much, we make breakfast for not just ourselves, but for everyone in the Academy minus the Juniors."

"So you're saying, we get to find our own ingredients and cook with them for everyone?" Ragna spelled out for himself. Akane nodded and clicked his tongue playfully.

"You got it, now let's get going before anyone gets here. Last thing we want is some hungry mob after us." Akane warned him.

Ragna agreed with a nod and followed him, "Okay, lead the way Akane."

Then off they headed into the forested parts of the seventh level and any higher if they desired.

Speaking of the forests, they were exactly as one would think of a forest, a collection of trees playing host to a variety of flora and fauna; to Ragna and Akane, this meant ingredients.

"Hey, Ragna look at these berries, you think they're good to eat?" Akane asked him.

Ragna took a look at the small wild berries, he picked one off and crushed it between his fingers before rubbing it onto his wrists and elbows. A second later, he let out a small hiss as the berries' residue began to give him a small, but noticeable burning sensation.

"Nope, these things are poisonous, don't touch 'em, but these things on the branches on the other hand are okay." Ragna plucked at few wood-like buds off the bushes' branches.

Akane nodded impressed, "Hey! Not bad! I'm guessing you've done this before?"

Ragna replied, "Yeah, all the time before I enrolled, thought it wasn't this easy to navigate. These woods aren't as dense as the ones I'm used to, does the Academy grounds have something to do with that?" he asked hoping to learn more about the Academy.

"Well, I'm no expert on these things, but I'm guessing it's just the controlled amount of seithr and the nutrients here aren't as rich as the outside." he told Ragna who was just stood there absorbing the information.

"I see, guess we won't find that much compared to the outside, but that makes things a little easier. And… Oh! That plant over there." Ragna exclaimed his discovery.

Akane became curious as to what he found and asked, "So what did you find Ragna?"

Ragna was busying himself with plucking the leaves of the plant he had found.

"This thing here is called Moringa, a really bitter herb, but is pretty good for you. But if we want it to taste good, we gotta keep scavenging." he informed.

Akane nodded even more impressed with Ragna, who began to lead the foraging and eventually overfill their baskets with an array of wild vegetables, herbs and spices.

"Wow! I have never seen this much stuff in a basket before! And to think you could eat this thing!" Akane examined a root Ragna had pulled from the ground.

Ragna shrugged, "Of course you can eat that, it's just a different type of ginger, just the taste is much stronger, but with citrus flavours so it balances out."

Akane nodded, "Man, I have to say it, I'm glad I got paired with you, normally me and Taro are together, but we end up never knowing what to pick. Sure the big idiot is a great cook, but he can't forage even if his life depended on it." he revealed.

Ragna chuckled, "Hehe! At least the guy can cook, but um… anyway, I think we got enough vegetables and shit. We should probably head back." he suggested.

Akane nodded but sighed, "Uwah~ Guess we won't be finding any meat today."

The two began to head back to the Main building, however, Ragna stopped them both. It was at this moment that Akane decided to ask the taller male a question he had been meaning to ask for a while.

"Oh yeah, I heard you fought Jin and beat him when he went crazy. So, how did you do it?" Akane asked.

Ragna paused for a minute, "Um… I'm not sure, I just did whatever came naturally to me and wanted to beat his ass real badly."

Akane nodded, "Okay, but Jin is really strong! Heck, even some of the NOL's elites don't want to piss him off. And the fact that you bet him makes you a very popular guy."

Ragna looked at him, "So beating him was that big of a deal? Damn… so much for the quiet life. Anything else you want to say?"

Akane put his hand under his chin before saying, "Well… Nothing much, just that now that Jin's been beaten by someone, maybe his family won't try anymore assasination attempts on him."

Ragna stopped right there, "What? Jin has people trying to assassinate him other than that Short blonde girl?"

AKane nodded, "Yup! Kind of sad really, but now that you've beaten Jin, his jealous family members might no longer think he's worth the attention. But if I were you, you better be careful, those other Kisaragi relatives of his don't like it when commoners outdo them. They might come after you." he informed Ragna.

Ragna narrowed his eyes before looking back in front of him.

"Just let them come at me. I'll kick their asses even harder than I did to Jin."

Akane sighed, "For some reason, I thought you'd say that." he ended the conversation there and continued making way back to the Academy Main building. That was until Ragna stopped them...

"Huh? What's up Ragna?" Akane questioned the abrupt pause.

"Shush… Look, tracks." Ragna quietly pointed towards the ground, which Akane traced and saw footprints.

"Animal tracks? What animal though?" Akane wondered.

Ragna answered his thoughts, "The base of the foot is slightly round and the tips are pointed and get wider as you look up… this is a wild boar track and fresh too."

Akane blinked in shock at Ragna's deducing skills, "You can tell all that by its tracks?

Ragna groaned, "When you do this for a long time, you learn some things. But that doesn't matter, right now, we need to follow this thing." he reminded his companion.

Akane agreed, "Right."

They both followed the tracks with Ragna pointing out new signs like trampled grass and recently eaten plants; the last of which taught them both some new potential sources of ingredients.

"Looks like it made a stop for some snacks, we're getting close." Ragna analysed the situation with Akane following close behind.

Eventually, after many stressful minutes of tracking, they both saw their target; the wild boar whom was in trampling a downed deer.

"Oh, poor guy, that deer never stood a chance." Akane winced at the brutal beat down the wild boar was delivering.

Ragna however, just looked around the surrounding area, "Good, looks like more for us, now Akane, here's the plan, you dig a hole around that side and I'll lead it to it." he pointed to the side with large rocks scattered about. Akane agreed without question and went around the other side of the clearing.

Meanwhile, Ragna simply stood up and approached the wild boar making enough noise to get its attention. The boar roared then charged at him thinking he was after his game, we it guessed right.

Ragna began to lightly step backwards waiting for the boar to almost ram into him before he moved out of the way. The result? The boar smashed it's skull hard against the trunk of a tree.

"Come on, is that all little piggy?" Ragna taunted needlessly as the animal would have attempted to charge into him regardless.

To add to the mix, Ragna sometimes kicked the wild boar's face just to kill time and practice his skills.

'Hm? I'm getting sloppy, I need to find some place to train without anyone to judge me.' he thought to himself. Conveniently, Ragna just happened to jump over the hole Akane had dug using some Armagus and the wild boar had found itself stuck in their trap.

The wild boar began whining and struggling to climb out.

Ragna and Akane met up and exchanged words, "Nice work with the hole."

Akane returned the sentiment, "Thanks! You too! You barely tried with this guy chasing you. So now what?" Akane asked for further direction.

Ragna pointed towards the other recently trampled deer, "You can drag that thing back to the Cafeteria and I'll carry this thing back."

Akane agreed, "Alright, let's hurry back before people show up." he proceeded to cast some Armagus that carried the deer for him.

Ragna on the other hand picked up a head-sized rock and raised it towards the sky.

"Sorry… thanks for the meat." before he struck the boar in the head, effectively killing it.

"That's that, time to drag this thing back" He looked up at Akane and saw he had no problem using that Armagus of his to bring the deer back with him.

"You're definitely okay, alright, let's get back to the kitchen." Ragna called the foraging to an end to which Akane agreed wholeheartedly.

* * *

 **20 minutes later - Cafeteria Kitchen - 7:10AM**

After a long excruciating time carrying the baskets and the game they hunted, the two both let out breaths of relief.

"Phew! These guys were heavy weren't they Ragna?" Akane tried to make some small talk. Which succeeded,

"Yeah, man I could eat a horse right now, let's get these guys prepared so we can finally eat." Ragna exclaimed with a slight smile on his face.

Following Ragna's comment, the two immediately began skinning the boar and deer carefully. Draining the blood, removing the bladder and taking the meat. However, per Ragna's request, they kept all the organ meats under the guise of "So we don't waste anything."

As soon as the animals were all finished being carved out, they were about to start preparing the vegetables until they heard a familiar group of voices.

"Huh!? Hey, Ragna! Akane! Good morning! Are you two in charge of cooking this week?" Noel called out to them, the two boys did the same in turn.

"Oh! Hey there Noel! You too Tsubaki and Makoto! What's up?" Akane greeted them.

Tsubaki did a polite curtsy whilst Makoto waved energetically.

"Heya Akane! Oh Ragna! Good to see ya!" Makoto cheered out to him.

Ragna nodded, "Good to see you three… I guess." he added at the last bit.

Tsubaki caught that last part and inquired, "Oh Ragna, what's wrong with you? Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?"

Ragna narrowed his eyes more before risking it, "So… you guys aren't going to laugh at me?"

Noel, Tsubaki and Makoto looked at each other for a moment before Noel replied, "No, why would we laugh at you?"

Ragna was taken back by this response, "Huh? I swear you girls were going to mention last night to me…"

"Hey! Raggy! Did any ghosts haunt your dreams!?" Taro joked as soon as he saw him.

When the girls heard that, they couldn't suppress the laughter that they had been holding back when they saw Ragna.

The Albino scrowled, "Just when I thought you guys were decent."

Tsubaki wiped a tear from her eyes before replying, "Oh please, we're sorry if we upset you in anyway, but still… hehe"

Makoto continued, "The way you screamed when you saw Luna! That's not being wiped from our memory anytime soon!"

They all continued laughing at his expense.

Confused, Akane asked Taro for the details.

"Hey, what are those girls laughing about?" Akane wanted in on the joke.

Taro cleared his throat, "Oh! Um… hehe! Our buddy over here is afraid of ghosts."

"TARO! Don't tell him that!" Ragna yelled.

But it was too late, Akane heard enough and turned to face Ragna, "Really!? You don't like ghosts!?"

Ragna looked between the two guys and the three girls who were still giggling. He gave up and admitted it.

"Yes… I'm scared of ghosts… you happy?" Ragna shamefully admitted.

After a few more giggles, the girls finally settled down and Taro remembered his other friend.

"Oh yeah! Jinny! You're late! What took you so long!?" Taro asked.

As soon as Tsubaki heard that Jin was here, she immediately turned to face where her target of affection was.

"Huh!? Jin! G-Good morning! How are you?" she greeted him with that shine in her eyes.

Jin smiled at her, "I'm good, how are you Tsubaki? I'm just here to see what they have for breakfast."

In the meantime, Noel and Makoto who were watching, stifled their laughter at Tsubaki.

"Ya know, as funny as it is to hear Ragna scream. It's more hilarious how obvious it is that Tsubaki likes Jin and she tries to deny it." Makoto said.

Noel giggled whilst agreeing, "I think so too! They should just become a couple already."

The blonde and squirrel girl nodded together.

However, the room became silent when they noticed that Jin and Ragna were now glaring at each other.

"Oh no… Jinny and Raggy are at it again… haha." Taro laughed quietly.

Akane sighed, "I swear, what's with Jin? Whenever he's around Ragna, he just gives him a death stare and does things I've never seen him do before."

Such as how Jin gave Ragna a grin similar to the one gave him when he became psychotic and greeted him with a tone that sent shivers down everyone's spine aside from Ragna's.

"Good morning Ragna, how are you doing?" Jin managed to not sound like a complete psycho.

Ragna replied through clenched teeth, "I'm doing well Jin… what about you?" with as much sarcasm as he could muster up.

Jin smiled seemingly as he normally does, but according to both Taro and Akane.

"Look! Look! That face, you can see he's pissed!" Akane in hushed whispers into Taro's ears, who was chuckling at the scene for some stupid reason.

"Yep! That's Jin! He's never honest with his feelings!" Taro whispered back. As these two were whispering, Jin continued his tense conversation with Ragna.

"I'm doing quite well! In fact, I look forward to whatever you are making Ragna." Jin expressed with his eyes closed and smiling, but his voice had a hint of excitement that was foreigned to the ears of his long-time Academy friends.

Noel sneaked up to Tsubaki and asked, "Hey Tsubaki, don't you think Jin is being a little… different than usual?"

Tsubaki nodded and replied, "Yes, I'm not sure why he's like this around Ragna. He always gets along with even the worst people."

Ragna nodded, "Okay! Then sit tight then why don't ya? I'll cook you something real good." he put on the fakest happy tone he could muster up.

Jin smiled even more, "I'm sure it'll be a pleasure, take your time! I'll just be waiting outside until you're finished." he told him as he turned towards the Cafeteria entrance he was headed towards. On the way, he stopped by three girls who the group were well acquainted with.

"Oh good morning you three! Our friend Ragna is cooking for everyone today." Jin greeted Kajun, Mai and Shiori who was giving him a calculating gaze.

"Oh uh, hey Jin! You seem… rather excited today? And what's this about Ragna cooking?" Mai returned.

Jin swiftly stilled his features and resumed as he was known for, "I'm fine, I just had a really good night's sleep, that's all! Now, if you'll excuse me, have a nice day you three." he exited the room.

Mai blinked in confusion before expressing it to Kajun, "That was weird, wasn't it?"

Kajun agreed with her, "Yes… he's been a little more… excited these days." she described Jin's new personality."

But a loud voice interrupted them, "Hiya guys! What took ya slowpokes so long!?" Makoto's booming voice resounded in their faces.

Mai laughed apologetically, "I'm sorry, but Shiori was being a handful and you know…"

Makoto's mouth became the shape of an O and nodded in understanding, "I see~ But I can't blame her, who wouldn't want to play with your boobs?" she said nonchalantly.

Mai's face burned, "Can you not say that so openly please?" she pleaded.

Makoto scratched the back of her head in slight guilt, "Sorry! Haha!"

* * *

 **With Jin, outside the Cafeteria**

As soon as Jin exited the Cafeteria, he immediately found himself lying on a wall for support as he breathed heavily. The feeling he normally experience whenever he was around Ragna had almost made him completely break his Honour Student facade.

'Brother… You're really here! I want to spend more time with you and... ' Jin paused his thoughts as he remembered that Ragna was cooking for everyone today.

'Big Brother's cooking? Oh how I missed it…' Jin's eyes gleamed over with nostalgia.

Taking another deep breath, Jin concentrated on the charm Professor Cypher had placed on him.

"I need to stay calm… I can't lose myself to these temptations… not now at least." Jin reminded himself as he re-entered the Cafeteria only to see the girls conversing with Ragna.

"So what are you going to be making Ragna?" Makoto asked.

Ragna shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Anything that tastes alright I guess."

Hearing this, Noel replied, "So in other words, nothing too fancy or extraordinary?"

Wrong choice of words Noel… Ragna gave her a glare which made her jump, especially with what he said, "I'm sorry, but were you trying to say I can't cook?"

All the girls looked nervously at each other before Kajun stepped in, "Well if I may be blunt, you don't seem like the type who knows their way around a kitchen."

Ragna scrowled and shot back, "Hey! I can cook at the very least better than Noel!"

The blonde girl shouted indignantly, "H-Hey!"

Tsubaki however turned that down, "I'm sorry to say it, but that isn't too difficult to achieve…"

"W-Wah!? You're all so mean!" Noel began to whine, which caused Mai to leap towards her side.

"Oh don't listen to them Noel, you're cooking is amazing! You're the only one who can even get me to eat anything!" Mai assured the emotional blonde.

Noel sniffled before putting on a bright smile, "Oh Mai! You always know what to say~"

However, the other blonde; Shiori added, "Lady Mai~ You're so amazing to be able to conquer Noel's concoctions of death~"

But she was mostly ignored, much to her chagrin, before she could explode Taro approached her.

"Hehehe! You were ignored Shio-Shio!" Taro called her by her new nickname which only caused her to direct her anger towards him.

"Don't call me that! How dare you!? Why would you even give me one of your horrendous nicknames!?" Shiori demanded to know.

Taro was confused and replied as a result, "Eh? I just thought it'd be a cute name for you, you know!? You're cute as well so I thought why not!?"

Shiori's cheeks gained a scarlet complexion before erupting even more, "Don't call me cute either!"

"Then what do I call you?" Taro desperately wanted to know.

Shiori screamed in his face, "Shiori you idiot!"

In the meantime, Ragna rolled up his sleeves, "Oh just you guys watch, I'll make all of you something that'll have you all begging me cook all the time."

Mai came up and gave him her best wishes, "Well, good luck! You'll need it!"

Ragna scoffed, "I don't need luck… Akane, are the vegetables ready?" to which the guy replied, "Yep! They been ready since a while ago actually. So what are we going to make?"

Ragna took a chef hat and covered his hair with it, "Just follow my instructions, and I'll take care of the rest. Chop up the vegetables into big chunks and leave half of them in a bowl somewhere."

Akane nodded, "I got it!" he proceeded to slice whatever wild vegetables they had gathered.

Whilst Akane was doing that, Ragna took all the spices and dunked them into a massive wok. He began to move the wok and the wooden spoon he was using to toss them around for about a minute until a fragrant smell hit everyone's noses.

"*Sniff* Wow~ That smells amazing~" Noel stated the obvious.

Mai agreed, "It sure does! Though I'm not sure if it'll taste good." she added.

Kajun nodded, "That's right, many dishes can smell good, but rarely taste that good."

While the girls were making those comments, Ragna poured the now dry-roasted spices into a grinder which did it's work.

Working quickly, he took the wild ginger, lemongrass and herbs he and Akane had gathered before deep-frying them into a pot of hot oil.

Tsubaki blinked, "Huh? I've never seen people do that before? What's he doing to those herbs?"

Noel explained, "Oh! He's cooking them quickly in the oil to bring out the best flavours of all those ingredients! So, whatever he's making is going to have a strong flavour profile."

Mai, Kajun, Tsubaki and Makoto all listened in awe, "Noel… her knowledge of cooking is second to none yet…" Tsubaki mentioned.

"In practice… she's barely a novice." Makoto ended quietly. Mai chuckled lightly, "Come on, she isn't that bad right?"

Kajun and Shiori both placed there hands on both Mai's shoulders.

"Mai… you don't know how lucky you really are?" Kajun expressed her envy,

"It's nothing we want you to ever experience." Shiori told her.

Mai blinked and chuckled nervously, "I'm guessing it is huh."

Back to Ragna, once the herbs were nicely golden brown, he took them out and placed them in the same grinder where the spices were recently powdered. The result was a golden spice paste which was immediately place into a big pot with some of the oil that was used to fry the herbs earlier. As he sauteed the paste, he dumped half the meat he and Akane gathered.

Speaking of Akane, Ragna made sure he was busy, "Hey! Get working on the rice! We need as much as we can get!"

Akane nodded, "I'm on it! Wow, you sure know how to cook!"

Ragna smirked, "Yeah, yeah, I know, just get to work."

Eventually, his smirk became a smile, as the meat he used became brown and coated in the paste, which meant he could finally fill the pot with water. Just to make sure the contents weren't going to be blandm he added the moringa herb on top to make sure it was getting flavour. He then added a few wedges of onions before closing the pot.

After that, he looked to Akane and saw he had already finished making the rice.

"Okay, so now what Ragna?" Akane asked.

"Take this whole pot of rice, saute the half the organ meats in a pot with some of the leftover ginger and onions. Then add the rice to it with a lot of water.

Akane clicked his fingers, "Oh! You're making a rice porridge! I see, I know how to make that!" he went on to make the rice porridge.

As for Ragna, he took all the leftover ingredients, the last bits of meat, liver, heart and intestines, the last batch of wild vegetables, ginger and spice mix. Ragna smirked before he mixed the liver and heart with some spices and pepper. He blitz it in a blender before stuffing the intestines with the paste he made and chopped the long intestine into bit sized pieces.

Makoto's head began to hurt, "Okay? Does anyone know what Ragna just made? My head hurts trying to figure it out!"

Tsubaki shook her head, "I'm not sure what he's done either! But it looked interesting" he admitted.

Noel nodded, "Yeah, and that smell is amazing! I can't wait to try it!"

Kajun nodded, "Hm… interesting, this will be something to look into."

Mai chuckled at her friends' reactions, "Yeah! Ragna sure is amazing!"

As soon as Mai said that, Ragna was already stir frying the intestine sausages with a few pinches of salt and then added the vegetables until they started to wilt.

Ragna turned the heat off and walked up to the other two pots.

"And they should be done by now." Ragna spoke as he lifted the lids off the two massive pots, releasing the most pleasant aromas everyone has ever smelled.

"Ahh~ That smells really good!" Tsubaki admitted.

Noel nodded, "Oh! I'm getting satisfied just smelling it!"

Kajun told her, "Don't be hasty now Noel, be sure to save your appetite for the actual dishes."

Makoto however, cheered, "Oh boy! I can't wait! Let's dig in!"

However, they weren't alone.

The other students who were still asleep up until now had arrived in droves and all commented on the pleasant smell.

"Hey that stuff smells good!" a random student pointed out.

"The food is already done! Heck yeah!" another student pointed out.

Mai looked around and turned to Ragna with a bright smile on her face, "Now for the moment of truth! Let's see if they enjoy it!"

Ragna untied his apron and hat on his head.

"Yeah, they will. Trust me." he replied with a cocky smile on his face.

Taro approached Ragna and said, "You seem confident there Raggy! Let's hope it's actually good!"

Ragna blew his lips, "Please! Just sit down and eat, then you'll see."

Eventually, Ragna and Akane began to serve a decent portion of all the dishes they made equally to everyone in three separate plates and bowls on a tray; a plate of stir-fried Pate intestine sausage over white rice, a big bowl of thick rice porridge and a golden brown boar and deer meat soup curry.

Once everyone was served, our main focus, the detective of pretty girls who were among the first to receive their portions.

"Okay, this is it! Time to chow down on Ragna's cooking!" Makoto cheered.

Tsubaki chuckled at her antics, "It definitely looks good! So, shall we begin?"

Noel eagerly nodded, "Yes! Let's eat!" she cheered already having a spoonful of curry heading towards her mouth.

Likewise, Tsubaki and Makoto did the same as she did.

Once the food touched their tongues, their eyes widened and they sat petrified.

Seeing this, Mai became increasingly worried, "I'm guys… are you still alive?" believing that Ragna's cooking may have killed them

However, the girls began shoveling their food.

"This is so damn good! I can't stop! I must keep eating!" Makoto exclaimed.

Tsubaki in the midst of her onslaught, managed to stop between bites, "Never in my life~ Have I ever tasted anything this amazing! What did he do to it!?" she wondered.

Noel added, "Oh! This is way better than anything we've ever made! Mn!"

Hearing the three girls in front of Mai and Kajun say this, the latter became more curious, "Is it really that good? I guess there's no harm in trying." she spooned a portion of her rice porridge.

Once she ate it, she immediately began to shovel down her food.

Mai's forehead began to drip with sweat.

"Um… Jun? Are you alright?" Mai stared in shock at her eccentric roommate who's usually so reserved and ladylike.

Kajun stopped and gave Mai a look with a big twinkle in them which startled her for a moment.

"Yes, of course I am! Why wouldn't I be?" Kajun replied with a smile, but her glossy lips were dripping with porridge.

Mai chuckled and scratched her cheek, "W-Well, uh? You're not eating… very ladylike." she reminded Kajun.

Kajun gave out a deep chuckle, "Oh please, it'd be unladylike of me if I didn't show how much I enjoyed this meal. Oh my goodness, this is so good! This is curious!" she resumed munching her meal.

Mai chuckled one last time before looking at her other side, where Shiori was sitting.

"Hey, Shiori, what about… nevermind." Mai gave up trying to say anything when she saw that Shiori was also taken by the meal that was cooked up by Ragna. Except she was swearing curses.

"Damn you *munch* Ragna! This is good *munch* You won't *munch* win Lady Mai from me!" Shiori swore with conflict between admiring Ragna's cooking, or plotting his demise.

Mai looked around for a little while and saw Akane and Taro eating their portions with Jin.

"Oh man! I've never had anything this good before! Akane, what do you think?" Taro asked.

Akane nodded and agreed, "Definitely! Never had a rice porridge with so much flavour to it."

Whilst they were talking, Jin was silently eating his portion which Tsubaki, who was seated between Noel and Makoto, happened to be near where Jin was sitting. She noticed that Jin's portion didn't have any meat in it.

She chuckled a bit gaining Jin's attention, who smiled in response, "What's wrong Tsubaki? Did Ragna's cooking set something loose in you?"

Tsubaki's face became scarlet as she realised she ate like an animal around Jin.

"I-I-I I didn't mean to eat like that… I-I" Tsubaki tried to cover, but Jin reassured her, "Don't be ashamed Tsubaki! I'd rather see you like that more often!" Jin admitted.

Tsubaki's heart soared, "I-I see, I guess I will do that then, anyway, looks like Ragna's plan backfired, he took the meat out l=just the way the way you like it!"

Jin paused for a bit and observed his portion, only to see that she was right. His tray didn't contain a single trace of meat in it. This was exactly how he did like his meals.

"Yes? You're right, Ragna didn't put meat in mine, but that's okay, I don't like meat dishes anyway." Jin smiled whilst continuing his meal.

Mai chuckled at Tsubaki and Jin's interaction, before hearing a grunt from a gruff voice she had come to know.

"Tch! Old habits die hard, I guess" Ragna scrowled as he glared at Jin enjoying his meat-free meal.

Mai looked up at him and greeted, "Hey Ragna! You weren't kidding! Everyone here is falling over their heads for your cooking!" she pointed out how everyone in the Cafeteria was praising the gods for whatever forces brought this divine meal upon them.

Ragna looked to her and smirked, "Heh! This was nothing! But um… aren't hungry? You haven't eaten anything have you?" he noticed her untouched meal.

Mai laughed a bit before reminding him of her supertaster.

"I can't eat anything other than Noel's cooking, so I'll just wait!" Mai insisted until her stomach growled.

Hearing this, Noel spoke up from across the table, "Come on Mai! You should try it! After all, maybe Ragna's cooking might taste good to you!"

Mai's sweat dripped down her chin, "I'm not sure…"

Makoto piped up, "Do it Mai! If not, then you can give it to me!"

Looking around to her friends, she noticed them giving her that look that just demanded she try Ragna's cooking. Giving in, she hesitantly took a spoonful of stir fry and painstakingly brought it to her mouth.

Once the journey to her tongue had been completed, she faintly tasted how much Ragna secretly enjoyed cooking.

Mai's eyes brightened, maybe her days of eating only Noel's food had come to an end.

"Hey this is actually… *Cough*" Mai coughed like a plague patient.

The aftermath of Ragna's joy in cooking was suddenly replaced by a ferocious wave of hatred and gruesome memories, that could have only belonged to Ragna.

 _She saw from a small boy's perspective, a grown man in a Lab holding the said boy by the throat while he screamed bloody murder._

" _You useless little! No matter how much time we invest in you! You produce no results!" the man screamed._

 _A flash of white noise skipped over that and she saw the scene of fire and heard a maniacal laughter. Whilst the same boy who looked in the source's direction screamed in his mind._

' _J… Saya… Sister…. Give them back to me!'_

Then nothing, Mai's face became blank as she managed to stop herself from fainting or spewing her stomach from what she had just witnessed.

"Mai? Mai? Are you okay? Can you eat it?" Kajun's voice brought her back from that horrid experience she just saw.

Mai reluctantly swallowed the food before sadly laughing, "I'm sorry Ragna, but I still can't eat this. Hehehe."

The girls were brought down by this and Tsubaki commented, "Not even Ragna's amazing cooking could bypass Mai's supertaster."

Makoto shrugged, "Oh, that's too bad, but, what are we gonna do with your portion, we can't just throw it away. It's too good for that." she exclaimed and everyone agreed.

Looking around, she noticed that everyone had a portion except for Ragna himself. Mai picked her tray up and thrust it towards Ragna.

"Huh!? What the!?" Ragna was taken by surprise.

"Here you have it! You're the only one who hasn't had anything to eat, so here!" Mai told him.

Ragna wanted to rebut, "But um… okay, since you can't eat then I will." He grabbed the tray and took a seat between her and Kajun.

He took a bite out of eat one and frowned a bit as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah I can see why you didn't like this, I've definitely made better." Ragna expressed his disappointment with his cooking.

Noel along with many of the others were shocked, this divine meal he cooked disappointed him? Just what was Ragna capable of?"

At this, Noel slowly made her way around the table towards Ragna and she said his name.

"Um… excuse me Ragna?" Noel played with her fingers whilst rubbing her knees together shyly.

Ragna looked up at her, "Yeah? What is it Noel?"

Noel bit her lip, before asking him, "Well… I was hoping you could teach me how to cook? Is that alright with you?" she held her hands in a prayer just below her face. This action caused Ragna to see his younger sister, Saya who had once did this exact same action when she wanted to become a better cook.

In a moment of weakness, Ragna grunted whilst he stood up and placed his right hand on Noel's head, "Okay I will, someone needs to make sure you stop killing people with your cooking." he grinned at his joke, but Noel only puffed her cheeks in anger.

"What do you mean by that!?" Noel exploded.

Ragna smirked, "Well, with that pile of shit you always give Mai, I'm worried she might be suffering from what did the health classes call it? Poor nutrition?"

Noel's face became red, "It's not that bad! Why does everyone say that!?"

Everyone began to laugh at Ragna's and Noel's interactions, but Jin who was watching couldn't help but feel incredibly jealous at the scene. Due to this, he quickly stood up and began to walk for the Cafeteria exit.

Taro got up as well, "Jinny? What's up!? You only ate half of your meal!"

Jin without looking back, replied in a strained voice, "I'm fine! I'm already full!" before he disappeared beyond the doors with Taro following closely behind.

Akane looked on with interest before he turned to face the Remix Heart group.

"Well, I'mma head off too! Gotta check on those two, ya know! Seeya all later!" Akane dismissed himself from the table and ran off after Taro and Jin.

The group waved goodbye to him before focusing on each other once more.

"Alright Noel, I'll teach ya how to cook. Besides, you got the book smarts about cooking, you might as well get the skills." he told her.

Noel looked a little miffed but didn't do anything other than agree.

"Y-yes Ragna, thank you so much!" Noel thanked him.

However, the two were interrupted by Kajun's interference, "Excuse me, I don't mean to invade on your conversation, but did anyone else notice that Ragna's right arm didn't harm Noel?"

That's when it clicked, Ragna's arm didn't do anything to harm Noel.

"What? But why? Can you somehow control it now?" Tsubaki questioned.

They all thought this over until Mai spoke up, "Hey! Maybe it's the same thing that happened to me! Remember that ghost Luna? Didn't she give him something? The protection Grimoire?"

Then it all suddenly made sense, Kajun theorised, "Oh! I see, that ghost girl must have done something to Ragna's right arm so that he doesn't harm anyone accidentally."

The Remix Heart girls cheered for their sole male member, "Hooray! Now you're one step closer to healing that 'condition' of yours buddy!" Makoto told him.

Ragna was a little confused by what she meant until he remembered his cover up story; his right arm had a terrible 'condition' that harms others if he touches them.

"Oh right, hahaha! I guess that's a good thing." Ragna replied.

The laughter and cheers continued, Mai looked up at Ragna with envy and a smile.

"Ha... You can touch people with your right arm now, I sure do hope I can fix my supertaster…" Mai looked down.

Everyone became silent at this sudden development, but Ragna took a long look at the girl, with his sights flickering between her and the food next to her. Closing his eyes, he put some effort into forming what he wanted to say to her and just decided to go for it.

"Ya know, listen Mai, you've been nothing but a good friend to me for a while now and… I admit! I was a bit of an asshole, but you and everyone else still called me their friend… so…" Ragna paused and flushed a bit when the girls of the Remix Heart group gave him surprised stares.

With Mai's gaze penetrating him most deeply, he swallowed, "What I'm trying to say… maybe I'll make you something so that even with those bullshit tastebuds of yours. You'll enjoy the best food you've had in a while." he finished.

Mai blinked slowly as she formed a few words, "Was that… a promise?"

Ragna scratched his cheeks in embarrassment, "Well… technically yeah it is. Just take it however you want."

The rest of the girls giggled at Ragna's embarrassment and told him there's nothing to be embarrassed about for promising a friend something.

Mai began to smile brightly and agreed, "Yeah! Okay! I'll wait for that day to come! No matter how long it takes you."

Ragna stared at her for a bit before smiling, "Yeah, I won't let you down, now anyway… I'm just going to check out some of the clubs and stuff, since I've literally got nothing better to do. Anyway seeya guys later."

He showed himself out.

"Seeya Ragna!" They all waved him goodbye.

However, Mai watched his back with her smile slowly fading; the memories and feelings she had felt from his cooking earlier had piped her interest.

'Ragna… Just what kind of life did you have before you came here?' she wondered and subconsciously set her own personal mission to learn more about Ragna; he was by far the most mysterious lifeform she had ever encountered.

And she was always fond of the mysterious….

* * *

 **OMAKE: Ragna has to have other friends too!**

 **Now as with many fanfiction writers, this author was well aware that readers dread OC's more than any other character.**

 **But for god's sake! Ragna can't just go through the years of the Academy in his short College years by only hanging out with the Remix Heart Detectives.**

 **So he was, out on his on searching threw many clubs and activities to spend his time wisely.**

 **Ragna skimmed through the short-list he made himself during the one week he had spent here.**

" **Let's see… I narrowed it down to the cooking clubs... For training, the boxing club, sword clubs and huh? The Pradal Serey Rahu gym? That sounds interesting. Let's see where was that place."**

 **Ragna looked at where this 'Pradal Serey' club was and saw that it was conveniently in front of him.**

" **Talk about lazy plot convenient! Oh well, I'm not complaining." Ragna muttered as he entered the room, only to see two people in it.**

 **One of them was a rather short guy, with thick fuzzy black hair and sun kissed skin. However, the guy was super lean and jacked. He was right now holding the pads for some other guy of the same height, but this guy was weird in appearance.**

 **His body was normal, he had a dark complexion, wore the school uniform and all that. But his head was that of an echidna, with red fur locks drooping down the sides of his face and down the back of his neck. Instead of a mouth, he had a tanned snout with a shiny black nose and his eyes… oh god.. His eyes bulged out with his pupils looking sideways.**

 **These two stopped what they were doing and looked in his direction. Ragna straightened up and approached them.**

" **Hey guys, I'm here to check out the 'Pradal Serey' club you guys offer." Ragna told them.**

 **The normal looking man smiled brightly looking at his strange companion before offering his hand for a handshake, "Oh! You want to try out the club! Yes! You're more than welcome! My name is Somnang Teah! You?" he introduced himself with a slight accent.**

 **Ragna smiled, "Yeah, I'm Ragna Mitsuyoshi, pleased to meet you, and he is…?"**

 **The red headed… literally red-headed man came up to him and introduced himself in the thickest and funniest accent he had ever heard.**

" **Hello dere mah Bruddah! Mai name is Ebo *cluck* L.A! Welcome to de Bra-Darl Sir-Ray Club!" Ebo-L.A introduced himself.**

 **Ragna nodded, "Okay, nice to meet you two Ebo, so what martial arts do you guys do? I saw all this wrestling, striking and throwing. What's it called?" he asked genuinely interested.**

 **Somnang took over and explained, "Well, it's called Pradal Serey for those who speak English, my people in Sok-Khmai, or Cambodia, say it like 'Brahdahl Serey'. It's pretty much like Muay Thai, except my master's style is one of the few genuine versions still around."**

 **Ragna nodded getting more invested into this story, "Okay, then well, I kicked some guy named Kazaki's ass who uses Muay Thai, so show me what you got then maybe I'll join." he challenged.**

 **Unexpectedly, Somnang smiled, "Okay! Let's do it!"**

 **Ragna blinked a bit, "Um… aren't you afraid of losing?"**

 **Ebo L.A spoke up, "Master Teah says that no matter how good you are, you can always lose to a beginner if you do not know 'de wae' of battle."**

 **Somnang nodded, "So if I lose, no worries, I try harder then fight again!"**

 **Ragna smiled, he liked these guys already.**

" **Huh!? Is that so, alright then, give me your best shot!" he relaxed his posture ready for battle.**

 **Somnang lowered himself and brought his hands which were wrapped in ropes in front of his face. He moved around cautiously making some shifty movements which threw Ragna off.**

 **So far, Ragna wasn't impressed and thought he might as well knock the guy out in one punch. He threw out the fastest jab he could pull, but to his shock, Somnang pushed the blow to the side before moving under his arm.**

 **Ragna managed to bring his left arm back and used the momentum to do a switch kick to push the guy away.**

 **But the guy's posture was in the prime position to lock his leg and drag his ass towards him. Before Ragna knew it, Somnang had delivered a haymaker which slammed Ragna on his back.**

 **Just as soon as he was about to string back up, Somnang had already secured a position on top of him and made the motions that told Ragna that if this was a real fight, he would have had his neck snapped.**

 **Somnang eventually got up and so did Ragna.**

 **The former bowed and thanked him.**

" **Thank you for the spar! You're welcome to join at anytime you want! We won't force you!" Somnang told him.**

 **Ragna stared in shock at this guy. If this is what an Academy student could do if they focused on their training, then he'd see why his Master Jubei and Rachel sent him here.**

 **He recalled his master's words.**

' **Them Academy students ain't no pushovers!'**

 **Ragna told them, "No worries, I'm in!" much to their happiness.**

" **Yay! We got another sparring partner Ebo!" Somnang cheered along with the red head guy.**

" **Yes mah Bruddah! It's a good day to today!" Ebo agreed.**

 **Thought Ragna had to ask, what are their stories?**

 **Somnang replied to him, "Oh! Me, when I was too young to remember anything, you know, me a dumb shit! My parents died during the Genocide in Cambodia. My Uncle, took me in and raised me and taught me the Rahu style of Pradal Serey. And then I ended up here, my dream is to spread Pradal Serey all over the world with the Academy as a start."**

 **Ragna nodded, "That's a nice goal and you Ebo?"**

 **Ebo L.A took his turn, "Oh me and him similar. That is why I joined his gym. In a world foreign to this one, a place we called home… my beloved Uganda! We were a rowdy bunch, but we knew the wae… the wae of the devil… the wae of spreading love and respect! Through Ebola…"**

 **Ragna nodded slowly becoming unnerved, "Okay… why would you guys want to spread Ebola?"**

 **Ebo L.A quickly explained, "Oh no! My Bruddah you misunderstand! We wanted to show people that even in de worst of times… such as having Ebola or coming from Zimbabwe, you can still find de wae to happiness… and love… but, but…. *sniff* our true purpose was lost."**

 **Ragna stayed silent wanting to know more but couldn't help but think.**

' **This is going to be sad in a hilarious way.'**

 **Ebo continued, "Through the next generations, our purpose to spread joy and love, was ruined by our so-called 'Bruddahs' who spat on people and ruined the wae! So… I thought through Master Teah's teaching… I will discover the wae… the wae of redemption! And bring joy and love to the world! *Cluck* *Cluck* *Cluck*"**

 **Ragna couldn't help but sigh.**

 **You know, maybe the readers are right? OC's do ruin a story….**

* * *

 **Author's note**

 **Hey guys! Sorry for the massive delay! I've been at school for this first half year and for the first time I can honestly say… I love my school!**

 **Unlike High School and University, I can relate to everyone! They're all introverts like me who love video games and memes.**

 **So for those who do bother to read this.**

 **Please understand, this school I'm going to teach future games developers and I dream of one day making video games that everyone can enjoy.**

 **Thank you for reading, please review to tell me if you enjoyed this or not.**

 **I hope this will get better with time.**

 **SoulsVeteran, Praise the Sun.**


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